Why is mass important in the life cycle of a star?
A star's life cycle is determined by its mass. The larger its mass, the shorter its life cycle. A star's mass is determined by the amount of matter that is available in its nebula, the giant cloud of gas and dust from which it was born.
Why is a the birth mass of a star such an important quantity?
Why is a the birth mass of a star such an important quantity? A star's birth mass is the most important predictor of a star's lifetime. A star born with high mass will have a short lifespan; a star born with low mass will have a significantly longer lifespan.
Why are high mass stars important for life on Earth?
These heavy elements are ejected into space and eventually become incorporated into future generations of stars and planets. Without supernova, the fiery death of massive stars, there would be no carbon, oxygen or other elements that make life possible.
How does mass control a stars life?
For a star, everything depends on its mass. Throughout their lives, stars fight the inward pull of the force of gravity. It is only the outward pressure created by the nuclear reactions pushing away from the star's core that keeps the star "intact". But these nuclear reactions require fuel, in particular hydrogen.
Why does mass determine the evolution of a star quizlet?
Why? The mass of a star determines both its surface temperature and its luminosity. A star's mass is how much fuel it has and its luminosity is what determines how fast the star consumes its fuel. Therefore, the higher the mass, the higher the luminosity and consumption rate which decreases its lifespan.
What is the life cycle of high mass star?
Massive stars transform into supernovae, neutron stars and black holes while average stars like the sun, end life as a white dwarf surrounded by a disappearing planetary nebula. All stars, irrespective of their size, follow the same 7 stage cycle, they start as a gas cloud and end as a star remnant.
What does the mass of a star determine?
A star's mass gives a measure of the amount of "fuel", and its luminosity gives a measure of the rate at which this "fuel" is consumed by nuclear burning, so a star's lifetime is proportional to its Mass divided by its Luminosity.
Why is a star’s birth mass its most fundamental property quizlet?
Why is a star's birth mass its most fundamental property? A star's mass determines surface temp and luminosity throughout a star's main sequence life which lead to the star's lifetime.
Why are the more massive stars the only important contributors in enriching the universe with heavy elements?
Determine why only the most massive stars are important contributors in enriching the galaxy with heavy elements. A more massive star begins it's life in the same way, with hydrogen being converted to helium, but it is much higher on the main sequence.
What is a high mass stars life cycle?
0:032:26THE LIFE CYCLE OF A HIGH MASS STAR (simplified) | AstronomyYouTube
What does mass of a star determine?
As it turns out, the mass of a star determines its life history from day 1, for all times thereafter, not only when the star is on the Main Sequence. So actually, the position of a star on the H-R diagram is a good indicator of its mass, regardless of whether it's on the Main Sequence or not.
How is the lifetime of a star related to its mass quizlet?
A star's birth mass is the most important predictor of a star's lifetime. A star born with high mass will have a short lifespan; a star born with low mass will have a significantly longer lifespan. How is the lifetime of a star related to its mass? More massive stars live much shorter lives than less massive stars.
How does A star’s mass determine its lifespan quizlet?
The mass of a star determines both its surface temperature and its luminosity. A star's mass is how much fuel it has and its luminosity is what determines how fast the star consumes its fuel. Therefore, the higher the mass, the higher the luminosity and consumption rate which decreases its lifespan.
What is most important in determining the evolution of A star?
Mass is the single most important property of a star. It determines the evolution of a star as well as its lifetime (e.g. lower mass stars live longer). In all the above discussed cases this means the initial mass, which decreases by less than 1% from birth to onset of a planetary nebula or a supernova.
What are the life stages of a high-mass star quizlet?
Terms in this set (7)
- Protostar. A star system forms when a cloud of interstellar gas collapses under gravity.
- Blue Main-Sequence Star. …
- Red Supergiant. …
- Helium-burning Supergiant. …
- Multiple Shell-burning Supergiant. …
- Supernova. …
- Neutron Star or Black Hole.
What happens at the end of a high-mass stars life?
During the final stages of a high-mass star's life, iron builds up in the core. Elements lighter than iron release energy through nuclear fusion. Elements heavier than iron release energy through nuclear fission.
What happens if a star doesn’t have enough mass?
Once the helium in the core is gone, the star will shed most of its mass, forming a cloud of material called a planetary nebula. The core of the star will cool and shrink, leaving behind a small, hot ball called a white dwarf.
Does a star have mass?
A star's mass will vary over its lifetime as mass is lost with the stellar wind or ejected via pulsational behavior, or if additional mass is accreted, such as from a companion star.
Why is a star’s birth mass its most fundamental property why is a star’s birth mass its most fundamental property?
Why is a star's birth mass its most fundamental property? A star's birth mass determines its quantity of hydrogen fuel, its central pressure and temperature, and therefore its luminosity. These in turn set the star's main-sequence lifetime and surface temperature.
Why are the most massive stars important contributors in enriching the galaxy with heavy elements?
Determine why only the most massive stars are important contributors in enriching the galaxy with heavy elements. A more massive star begins it's life in the same way, with hydrogen being converted to helium, but it is much higher on the main sequence.
Why are heavy elements important?
Such heavier elements are necessary to form the dust grains and planetesimals that build planetary cores, according to the study, which was carried out by researchers Jarrett Johnson and Hui Li of Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.
What two things can a high mass star become at the end of its life?
If the core survives the supernova, it can either become a neutron star or a black hole. That depends on how many solar masses the core is.
What happens at the very end of a high mass star’s life?
High mass stars effectively Live hard and die young. Near the end of their short lives, they puff up into a giant red star, although in this case a supergiant, and then they collapse.
How does mass affect a star’s luminosity lifespan?
Massive stars are short-lived. A star's mass gives a measure of the amount of "fuel", and its luminosity gives a measure of the rate at which this "fuel" is consumed by nuclear burning, so a star's lifetime is proportional to its Mass divided by its Luminosity.
Why only the most massive stars are important contributors in enriching the galaxy with heavy elements?
Determine why only the most massive stars are important contributors in enriching the galaxy with heavy elements. A more massive star begins it's life in the same way, with hydrogen being converted to helium, but it is much higher on the main sequence.
Why does the lifetime of stars decrease as mass increases mass quizlet?
How does a main-sequence star's lifetime depend on its overall mass? The higher the star's mass, the shorter its lifetime, because a more massive star "burns" hydrogen fuel much faster than a low-mass star.
What is the relationship between the mass of a star and its rate of formation?
New research from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics reveals that the correlation between a galaxy's stellar mass and star formation rate is a tight one. The more stars a typical spiral galaxy contains, the faster it makes new ones.
What are the stages of life for a high mass star?
All stars, irrespective of their size, follow the same 7 stage cycle, they start as a gas cloud and end as a star remnant.
- Giant Gas Cloud. A star originates from a large cloud of gas. …
- Protostar. …
- T-Tauri Phase. …
- Main Sequence. …
- Red Giant. …
- The Fusion of Heavier Elements. …
- Supernovae and Planetary Nebulae.
Why do low mass stars live longer?
A smaller star has less fuel, but its rate of fusion is not as fast. Therefore, smaller stars live longer than larger stars because their rate of fuel consumption is not as rapid.
What happens to the mass of a star as time goes on?
Once the helium in the core is gone, the star will shed most of its mass, forming a cloud of material called a planetary nebula. The core of the star will cool and shrink, leaving behind a small, hot ball called a white dwarf.