21st Century Astronomy
6th Edition
ISBN: 9780393428063
Author: Kay
Publisher: NORTON
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Chapter 16, Problem 16QP
To determine
The explanation for a star could skip the main sequence and immediately begin fusing helium in its core.
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Using solar units, we find that a star has 4 times the luminosity of the Sun, a mass 1.25 times the mass of the Sun, and a surface temperature of 4090 K (take the Sun's surface temperature to be 5784 K for the sake of this problem). This means the star has a radius of.................... solar radii and is a .................... star (use the classification).
For a main sequence star with luminosity L, how many kilograms of hydrogen is being converted into helium per second? Use the formula that you derive to estimate the mass of hydrogen atoms that are converted into helium in the interior of the sun (LSun = 3.9 x 1026 W).
(Note: the mass of a hydrogen atom is 1 mproton and the mass of a helium atom is 3.97 mproton. You need four hydrogen nuclei to form one helium nucleus.)
For the PP chain 0.7% of the mass participating in nuclear fusion is liberated as energy which
produces a star's luminosity. Assume that the core of a main sequence star consists of 10% of its
total mass. Hence, estimate the lifetime of a star on the main sequence in terms of its luminosity
L/L. Give your answer in years. You may use the observed mass-luminosity relation L x M³.5,
where M is the star's total mass.
Using typical values, calculate estimates for the main sequence lifetime of a KO star and a 05
star. Describe briefly why your estimate might be more accurate for K stars compared to O stars.
Chapter 16 Solutions
21st Century Astronomy
Ch. 16.1 - Prob. 16.1CYUCh. 16.3 - Prob. 16.3CYUCh. 16.4 - Prob. 16.4CYUCh. 16.5 - Prob. 16.5CYUCh. 16 - Prob. 1QPCh. 16 - Prob. 2QPCh. 16 - Prob. 3QPCh. 16 - Prob. 4QPCh. 16 - Prob. 5QPCh. 16 - Prob. 6QP
Ch. 16 - Prob. 8QPCh. 16 - Prob. 9QPCh. 16 - Prob. 10QPCh. 16 - Prob. 11QPCh. 16 - Prob. 12QPCh. 16 - Prob. 13QPCh. 16 - Prob. 14QPCh. 16 - Prob. 15QPCh. 16 - Prob. 16QPCh. 16 - Prob. 17QPCh. 16 - Prob. 18QPCh. 16 - Prob. 19QPCh. 16 - Prob. 20QPCh. 16 - Prob. 21QPCh. 16 - Prob. 23QPCh. 16 - Prob. 24QPCh. 16 - Prob. 25QPCh. 16 - Prob. 26QPCh. 16 - Prob. 27QPCh. 16 - Prob. 28QPCh. 16 - Prob. 29QPCh. 16 - Prob. 30QPCh. 16 - Prob. 31QPCh. 16 - Prob. 32QPCh. 16 - Prob. 33QPCh. 16 - Prob. 34QPCh. 16 - Prob. 35QPCh. 16 - Prob. 36QPCh. 16 - Prob. 37QPCh. 16 - Prob. 38QPCh. 16 - Prob. 39QPCh. 16 - Prob. 40QPCh. 16 - Prob. 41QPCh. 16 - Prob. 42QPCh. 16 - Prob. 43QPCh. 16 - Prob. 44QPCh. 16 - Prob. 45QP
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- Observations show that stellar luminosity, L, and mass, M, are related by L x M3.5 for main sequence stars. Obtain an expression that relates the main sequence life time and the mass of a star. You should assume that the luminosity is constant throughout a star's main sequence life time, and that the amount of mass converted into energy by a star while it is on the main sequence is given by AM main sequence life time of a 20 Solar mass star given that the Sun is expected to spend 1010 years on the main sequence. Comment on the significance of your answer. fM, where f is a constant. Estimate thearrow_forward(Answer don't copy with hand written please)As a star runs out of hydrogen to fuel nuclear fusion in its core, changes within the star usually cause it to leave the main sequence, expanding and cooling as it does so. Would a star with a radius 12 times that of the Sun, but a surface temperature 0.5 times that of the Sun, be more, or less luminous than the Sun? Show and explain your reasoning. You may assume the surface area of a sphere is A = 4πr2.arrow_forwardA red giant star might have radius = 104 times the solar radius, and luminosity = 1730 times solar luminosity. Use the data given below to calculate the temperature at the surface of the red giant star. Data: solar radius R = 7 x 108 meters solar luminosity L = 4 x 1026 watts Stefan-Boltzmann constant a = 5.67 x 10-8 W m² K-4 (in K) A: 1226 OB: 1434 OC: 1678 OD: 1963 OE: 2297 OF: 2688 OG: 3145 OH: 3679arrow_forward
- A star with a radius 1.7 times that of the Sun has a surface temperature T=10,000 K. Calculate the luminosity of this star and express your answer in units of the Solar luminosity (the Solar luminosity = 3.84 x 1026 W and the Solar radius = 7 x %3D 108 m). Choose the option below that most closely matches your answer. Select one: а. 20 O b. 100. O C. 26. O d. 5. O e. 1000arrow_forwardA main sequence star of mass 25 M⊙has a luminosity of approximately 80,000 L⊙. a. At what rate DOES MASS VANISH as H is fused to He in the star’s core? Note: When we say “mass vanish '' what we really mean is “gets converted into energy and leaves the star as light”. Note: approximate answer: 3.55 E14 kg/s b. At what rate is H converted into He? To do this you need to take into account that for every kg of hydrogen burned, only 0.7% gets converted into energy while the rest turns into helium. Approximate answer = 5E16 kg/s c. Assuming that only the 10% of the star’s mass in the central regions will get hot enough for fusion, calculate the main sequence lifetime of the star. Put your answer in years, and compare it to the lifetime of the Sun. It should be much, much shorter. Approximate answer: 30 million years.arrow_forwardBetelgeuse is a nearby supergiant that will eventually explode into a supernova. Let's see how awesome it would look. At peak brightness, the supernova will have a luminosity of about 10 billion times the Sun. It is 600 light-years away. All stellar brightnesses are compared with Vega, which has an intrinsic luminosity of about 60 times the Sun, a distance of 25 light-years, an absolute magnitude of 0.6 and an apparent magnitude of 0 (by definition). a) At peak brightness, how many times brighter will Betelgeuse be than Vega? b) Approximately what apparent magnitude does this correspond to? c) The Sun is about -26.5 apparent magnitude. What fraction of the Sun's brightness will Betelgeuse be?arrow_forward
- Finally estimate the lifetime of an M0 spectral type star if the total mass of the star is M = 0.51M⊙ , and it has a total luminosity L = 7.7× 10−2L⊙. Make the same assumptions as the previous two problems. How does your calculated Main Sequence lifetime for the M0 type star compare to the Main Sequence lifetime you calculated for the Sun?arrow_forwardWe will take a moment to compare how brightly a white dwarf star shines compared to a red giant star. For the sake of this problem, let's assume a white dwarf has a temperature around 10,000 K and a red giant has a temperature around 5,000 K. As for their stellar radiatin, the white dwarf has a radius about 1/100th that of the Sun, and a red giant has a radius around 100 times larger than the Sun. With this in mind, how does the luminosity of a red giant star compare to that of a white dwarf (Hint: do not try to enter all of these numbers into the luminosity equation {it won't go well}; instead, remember that you are only interested in the ratio between the two, so all common units and components can be divided out)? Please enter your answer in terms of the luminosity of the red giant divided by the luminosity of the white dwarf and round to two significant figures. Also, please avoid using commas in your answer.arrow_forwardOne way to calculate the radius of a star is to use its luminosity and temperature and assume that the star radiates approximately like a blackbody. Astronomers have measured the characteristics of central stars of planetary nebulae and have found that a typical central star is 16 times as luminous and 20 times as hot (about 110,000 K) as the Sun. Find the radius in terms of the Sun’s. How does this radius compare with that of a typical white dwarf?arrow_forward
- Use the provided equation of hydrostatic equilibrium to estimate the central pressure in the Sun. Repeat the process for a main sequence star that has a mass of 2M⨀. (Hint: use the known approximation that r ~ M for all main sequence stars to find the radius and new average density of the main sequence star)arrow_forwardA 46M Sun main sequence star loses 1 Msun of mass over 105 years. (Due to the nature of this problem, do not use rounded intermediate values in your calculations including answers submitted in WebAssign.) How many solar masses did it lose in a year? By how much will its luminosity decrease if this mass loss continues over 0.8 million years? Due to the nature of this problem, for all parts, do not use rounded intermediate values in your calculations-including answers submitted in WebAssign. To determine the number of solar masses lost per year, divide the mass lost by the number of years over which it was lost. Mlost tlost-yr Part 1 of 3 dM = dM = MSun/yrarrow_forwardQUESTION 16 Use the figure shown below to complete the following statement: A low-mass protostar (0.5 to 8M the mass compared to our sun) remains roughly constant in decreases in until it makes a turn towards the main sequence, as it follows its evolutionary track. Protostars of different masses follow diferent paths on their way to the main sequence. 107 Luminosity (L) 10 105 10 107 10² 101 1 10-1 10-2 10-3 Spectral type 0.01 R 0.001 Re 60 M MAIN SEQUENCE 40,000 30,000 20 Mau 10 Mgun 5 Mun 0.1 Run Ren radius; temperature luminosity; radius 3 Min. 05 BO temperature; luminosity Oluminosity: temperature radius: luminosity 1 M 10,000 6000 Surlace temperature (K) 1,000 Rs 2 M STAR L 0.8 M B5 AO FOGO КБ МБ -10 +10 3000 Absolute visual magnitude andarrow_forward
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