UNIVERSITY OF LONDON

BSc and MSci EXAMINATION 2004

For Internal Students of Royal Holloway

DO NOT TURN OVER UNTIL TOLD TO BEGIN

PH2910A: STELLAR ASTROPHYSICS Time Allowed: TWO hours

Answer QUESTION ONE and TWO other questions No credit will be given for attempting any further questions

Approximate part-marks for questions are given in the right-hand margin

Only CASIO fx85WA Calculators or CASIO fx85MS Calculators are permitted

PH2910A/33 Royal Holloway and Bedford New College 2004 2003-04

GENERAL PHYSICAL CONSTANTS Permeability of vacuum Permittivity of vacuum

0 0
1/40

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

4 10-7 8.85 10-12 9.0 109 3.00 108 1.60 10-19 9.11 10-31 1.66 10-27 1.67 10-27 1.67 10-27 1.76 1011 6.63 10-34 1.05 10-34 1.38 10-23 5.67 10-8 8.31 6.02 1023 6.67 10-11 9.81 2.24 10-2 1.01 105

H m-1 F m-1 m F-1 m s-1 C kg kg kg kg C kg-1 Js Js J K-1 W m-2 K-4 J mol-1 K-1 mol-1 N m2 kg-2 m s-2 m3 N m-2

Speed of light in vacuum Elementary charge Electron (rest) mass Unified atomic mass constant Proton rest mass Neutron rest mass Ratio of electronic charge to mass Planck constant

c e me mu mp mn e/me h = h/2

Boltzmann constant Stefan-Boltzmann constant Gas constant Avogadro constant Gravitational constant Acceleration due to gravity Volume of one mole of an ideal gas at STP One standard atmosphere

R NA G g

P0

MATHEMATICAL CONSTANTS e 2.718 3.142 loge10 2.303

 page 1

PH2910A
PART MARKS

ANSWER ONLY FIVE sections of Question One. You are advised not to spend more than 40 minutes answering Question One.

1.

(a)

Old stars with masses less than about two solar masses have a core composed principally of Helium. In these stars, a phenomenon called the Helium flash occurs. Explain what happens during the Helium flash and why it occurs.

[4]

(b)

Detail the series of nuclear reactions which make up the CNO cycle.

[4]

(c)

Describe, with the aid of a (log T - log ) diagram, how conditions will change in the core of the sun throughout the suns life. State the eventual fate of the sun.

[4]

(d)

Nuclear burning can lead to carbon detonation in white dwarf stars. Explain how this can produce type I supernovae in binary star systems.

[4]

(e)

Consider a simple model star where nuclear burning takes place in the region m=0 to m=0.25 Mstar. The rate of nuclear energy release in that region is a constant, q0, and is zero outside that region. The star is in thermal equilibrium. Derive an expression for F(m), the energy crossing a spherical surface at m within the star, as a function of q0 and the stellar luminosity, Lstar.

[4]

(f)

Briefly state the concepts of the dynamical, thermal and nuclear timescales of a star, giving an approximate expression for each. Comment upon the relative magnitudes of the timescales for massive and light stars.

[4]

TURN OVER

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PH2910A
PART MARKS

2.

(a)

Describe the nuclear burning processes which are typically important in the cores of stars. Describe the main inputs and products of each reaction (it is not necessary to give the full details of all the reactions in the chain). Give approximate temperature dependence of Hydrogen and Helium burning processes. Draw a (log T - log ) diagram to indicate the thresholds of each of these reactions. Also note the regions where pair production and iron photodisintegration can occur. Explain, with the aid of the (log T - log ) diagram you drew for (b), why we might expect to find shells of nuclear burning in a massive star towards the end of its life. Draw a sketch to indicate the layers we might expect to find in a star with an iron core. Explain why no further nuclear burning can occur in the iron core of such a star and briefly outline the evolution of the stellar core which ultimately results in a type II supernova explosion.

[8]

(b)

[4]

(c)

[4]

(d)

[4]

3.

(a)

For a star in hydrostatic equilibrium which can be modelled by a polytropic equation of state, the central density of the star, c , and the pressure at the centre of the star, Pc, are related by
4/3 Pc = (4 )1/ 3 BnGM 2 / 3 c

where Bn is a numerical coefficient depending on the polytropic index and M is the mass of the star. Derive an expression relating the core temperature and pressure of star whose equation of state is an ideal gas. Repeat the procedure for a star whose equation of state is dominated by degenerate (but non-relativistic) electrons. (b) (c) State how the equations you have derived appear when plotted as a trajectory for the central point of the star on the (log T - log ) diagram. Draw a (log T - log ) diagram suitable to describe the conditions in the centre of stars. Indicate which equation of state is dominant in each region of the diagram and indicate the zones of instability. Draw the evolutionary track of the stellar central point for stars of mass 0.1, 1, 10 and 100 solar masses. Explain, with the aid of the diagram, why some stars end their lives with a whimper while others end their lives with

[8] [2]

[10]

TURN OVER

 page 3 a bang. 4. (a)

PH2910A
PART MARKS

Explain what is meant by the homology property of the solutions to the equations of stellar structure when expressed in terms of the fractional mass m/Mstar

[2]

(b)

Using this homology property, the following expressions may be derived for main sequence stars with constant opacity : GM 2 , P* = R*4

* =
T* = F* =

M , R*3

P* , R gas *

ac T*4 R*4 , M F* = q 0 *T*n M . Using these equations, derive the mass-luminosity relationship for main sequence stars with constant opacity and fixed .

[8]

(c)

Using the mass-radius relationship:

RM
n 1 n +3

the black-body radiation law:

L R*2T*4 ,

and the mass-luminosity relationship you obtained in part (b) above, derive the luminosity-temperature relationship for main sequence stars with constant opacity and fixed . Comment upon the slopes of the pp chain and CNO cycle main sequences on the H-R diagram in light of your result.

[10]

TURN OVER

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PH2910A
PART MARKS

5.

(a)

Describe, with the aid of an H-R diagram, how a star with the same mass as the sun is predicted to begin its life from the interstellar medium to main sequence burning, according to the Hayashi theory. State what is meant by the Hayashi forbidden zone and explain in what sense it is forbidden. Briefly mention the relevance of the star becoming opaque, and the effects of the molecular and atomic Hydrogen thresholds.

[12]

(b)

The Eddington Luminosity is given by

LEdd = 4cGM

Explain the significance of the Eddington Luminosity and state what happens to a star which exceeds the Eddington Luminosity.

[4]

(c)

What is a planetary nebula? Explain briefly how they are thought to have formed.

[4]

END