Stars The Brightness of Stars -Star: A luminous sphere of gas with enormous mass, that produces energy by fusion. -Fusion: The joining of separate nuclei. Common in nature, but not on Earth.

Actual vs. Apparent Brightness Variables which affect a star’s brightness: 1.Star size 2.Distance from Earth 3.Star temperature Apparent Brightness: The amount of light received on Earth from a star. Actual Brightness: How large and hot a star is in relation to other stars.

Star Brightness Example: Sirius has a greater apparent brightness then Rigel, even though Rigel is a much hotter and brighter star. Why?

Lifecycle of Stars video:

Star Lifecycle explained “As space expands there are many more gaps forming and they need to be filled by stars and energy. So stars need to have a dynamic life cycle. Moments of birth and death, right? ”

Where are stars born? Nebula (stellar nursery): Stars are born in nebulae-- Huge clouds of dust and gas Dust and gas particles exert a gravitational force on each other which keeps pulling them closer together. Orion Nebula

More Nebulas As the particles pull closer together the temperature increases. At 10,000,000 o C fusion takes place and energy radiates outward through the condensing ball of gas. Another view of Orion

Stellar Evolution – A sun-like star tqYRcDHvFfj96_z1LHKO8kw

Huge Stars…

Stellar Evolution Core continues to heat and star expands to a super giant. As the core uses up its helium supply, the outer layers escape into space and the remaining core is white hot and called a white dwarf. White dwarfs

More Stellar Evolution When no more material is left in the core it explodes into a supernova. Smaller stars become neutron stars and most massive will collapse into a black hole. Neutron Star

Giant Stars…

Nothing (even light) can escape the gravity of a BLACK HOLE Videos: black-hole-time.htm of-a-black-hole.htm

Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram

Determining a Star’s Temperature A star’s temperature can be determined by its color. All objects will glow a different color when heated differently Colors hottest to coolest: Blue/white  yellow  orange  red.

Light-Years Light-year: Distance light travels in one year. (Equal to about 9.5 trillion kilometers) Approximate distances: -Sun to edge of solar system = 5.5 light hours -Nearest star (Alpha Centauri) = 4.3 light years -Center to edge of Milky Way = 50,000 light years

The Sun and You Our sun is a main sequence star according to the H-R Diagram. The actual brightness is average for a star of its average size.

Layers of the Sun Dense inner core which is the site of hydrogen fusion. Radiation zone: Energy bounces back and forth before escaping. Convections zone: Cooler layer of gas that is constantly rising and sinking.

Anatomy of Sun Photosphere: Bright source of much of the light we see. Chromosphere: Active layer which is home to many significant displays.

Anatomy of Sun Corona: Outer layer which is a gradual boundary between sun and space.

Sunspots Sunspots: Cool dark areas on the sun’s surface. -First discovered by Galileo -Not permanent features—Will appear and disappear

Cycle of Solar Activity Cycle of Solar Activity: 11 year cycle which see number of sunspots change. Sunspot Maximum: Time of many large sunspots. Sunspot Minimum: Time of few sunspots.

Prominences and Flares Prominence: A huge arching column of gas.

Solar Flares Solar Flares: Violent eruptions near a sunspot which suddenly brighten and shoot outward at high speed.

Solar Flares The interaction of solar flares with Earth’s magnetic field causes the aurora borealis/ aurora australis (Northern/Southern Lights)

Earth’s Galaxy—and Others Galaxy: A large group of stars, gas, and dust held together by gravity. Milky Way: Our galaxy which contains about 200 billion stars and many nebulas Spiral Galaxies

Earth’s Galaxy—and Others Galaxies are grouped together in clusters. The cluster the Milky Way belongs to is called the Local Group. Three types of galaxies: Cluster of galaxies

Elliptical Galaxies Elliptical Galaxies: Most common type of galaxy; large three- dimensional football shaped galaxies. - Contain mostly older and dimmer stars.

Spiral Galaxies Spiral Galaxies: Circular galaxies that have arms curve outward from a central hub. Arms are made up of stars and dust Two spiral galaxies!!

More Spiral Galaxies Barred spiral galaxies: Have two spiral arms extending out.

Irregular Galaxies Irregular Galaxies: Come in many different shapes and are smaller and less common than elliptical or spiral galaxies.

The Milky Way Galaxy 100,000 light years in diameter Our sun orbits the center of the galaxy once every 240 million years Probably a barred spiral galaxy Contains over 200 billion stars

C. The Doppler Shift As waves (sound, light, etc.) move away, the lengths of the waves increases. Doppler Effect

C. The Doppler Shift If a star is approaching the dark lines of its spectrum it will move toward the blue part of the spectrum. If a star is traveling away (as most are) the lines will move toward the red part of the spectrum.

C. The Red Shift The conclusion is that the universe is expanding because of the red shift in light from galaxies. Quasars: Star like objects at the outskirts of the universe which give off tremendous energy. 

Hydrogen Fusion: Energy of the Stars Stars have large amounts of hydrogen gas. Four hydrogen atoms fuse forming 1 atom of helium The mass of 4 hydrogen atoms is greater than the mass of 1 helium atom; the excess mass is converted to a tremendous amount of energy.

This hydrogen  helium fusion can power a star for billions of years

Determining a Star’s Composition Starlight is separated into a spectrum with a spectrometer A star’s light has dark bands along the spectrum, these bands are caused by the absorption of certain wavelengths of light by specific gases in the star. Different bands show what elements are in the star’s atmosphere.

A star’s spectrum