Stellar Evolution - The Birth, Life, and Death of a Star

The Milky Way Galaxy contains several hundred billion stars of all ages, sizes and masses. A typical star, such as the
Sun, radiates small amounts of X-rays continuously and larger bursts of X-rays during a solar flare.

The Sun and other stars shine as a result of nuclear reactions deep in their interiors. These reactions change light
elements into heavier ones and release energy in the process. The outflow of energy from the central regions of the
star provides the pressure necessary to keep the star from collapsing under its own weight.

Pressure out=Gravity in

Pressure out=Gravity in

A star collapses when the fuel is used up and the energy flow from the core of the star stops. Nuclear reactions outside
the core cause the dying star to expand outward in the "red giant" phase before it begins its inevitable collapse.

If the star is about the same mass as the Sun, it will turn into a white dwarf star. If it is somewhat more massive, it may
undergo a supernova explosion and leave behind a neutron star. But if the collapsing core of the star is very great -- at
least three times the mass of the Sun -- nothing can stop the collapse. The star implodes to form an infinite
gravitational warp in space -- a black hole.

The fate of a star depends on its mass

The Fate of a Star Depends on its Mass

The brightest X-ray sources in our galaxy are the remnants of massive stars that have undergone a catastrophic
collapse -- neutron stars and black holes. Other powerful sources of X-rays are giant bubbles of hot gas produced by
exploding stars. White dwarf stars and the hot, rarified outer layers, or coronas, of normal stars are less intense X-ray
sources.

To summarize, this tableau illustrates the ongoing drama of stellar evolution, and how the rate of evolution and the
ultimate fate of a star depends on its weight, or mass.

Stars

Table Illustrates the Ongoing Drama of Stellar Evolution

Stars are formed in giant clouds of dust and gas, and progress through their normal life as balls of gas heated by
thermonuclear reactions in their cores. Depending on their mass, they reach the end of their evolution as a white
dwarf, neutron star or black hole. The cycle begins anew as an expanding supershell from one or more supernovas
trigger the formation of a new generation of stars. Brown dwarfs have a mass of only a few percent of that of the Sun
and cannot sustain nuclear reactions, so they never evolve.

Astronomer says we're all made of stardust

All humans, plants, animals and the Earth itself are built from the ashes left behind after the death of stars. We are
fashioned from the nuclear waste that remains after massive stellar explosions, according to the UK's astronomer
royal.

Prof Sir Martin Rees also suggested that, although very small compared to the rest of the universe, the Earth may be
very important in cosmological terms as the place where sentient life originated before being dispersed to other
planets.
One of Britain's most prominent researchers and cosmologists, Sir Martin yesterday gave a compelling talk on some of
the great philosophical questions on the origins of life, time and the future of the universe, themes explored in his new
book, Our Cosmic Habitat. He was delivering the inaugural McCrea lecture at the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin
entitled "Understanding the beginning and the end".

"Every atom we are made of has an origin that can be traced back to before the solar system was formed," he said to a
full house at the academy's headquarters on Dawson Street. "We are literally the ashes of dead stars or the nuclear
waste left behind."

Sir Martin discussed the beginning of time after the Big Bang and the origins of the sun, our nearest star. It formed 4.5
billion years ago and will live as it is for another five or six billion years, he said. While we are familiar with the time-
spans in Darwinian evolution, cosmological evolution is a much more protracted affair.

"The thing we learn from astronomy is we shouldn't think of a culmination," he said. "The universe may have an
infinite life ahead of it."

To help his audience he equated the lifetime of the sun to a walk from New York City across the US to California. In this
case each step would take 2,000 years. All recorded human history would represent just four or five steps of the total
so far and these would have been taken while crossing Kansas, "not the high point of the journey". Earlier yesterday
Sir Martin met the President, Mrs McAleese, at Áras an Uachtaráin.