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Summary of Evolution of one solar mass star

● The surface of the collapsing protostar reaches a temperature when it begins to emit red light.
As it is very large, it is initially relatively bright, but drops in brightness as its surface area
reduces.
● For a period, the protostar remains at ∼10 times the luminosity of the resulting star. The star is 10 times the luminosity of the resulting star. The star is
getting smaller, which reduces the surface area but, at the same time, the surface temperature is
rising so increasing the emission per unit area. The two effects roughly cancel, so the protostar
remains at a roughly constant luminosity.
● As the star drops onto the main sequence, it goes through a very violent stage when
approximately half its mass is lost. It is called the Tau Tauri phase in the life of the star. (Tau
Tauri is a triple star system in Taurus where the primary star is dropping onto the main
sequence.)
● The star settles on the main sequence burning hydrogen into helium. As the amount of helium in
the core increases, its temperature rises and the star becomes somewhat hotter and so moves
upward and to the left of the H–R diagram
● The star becomes a red giant as it burns helium to carbon.
● It then burns carbon into oxygen within the core and becomes unstable, changing in luminosity
and colour as it does so.
● Finally, when no more energy can be extracted from the core, the star blows off its outer
envelope, giving rise to a planetary nebula.
● The cooling ember of the core, collapsed down to about the size of the Earth, drops to the lower
left of the H–R diagram and becomes a white dwarf. It is on the left of the diagram as it will
still be very hot but, as it is very small, it will not be very luminous so lies at the bottom of the
diagram.
NEUTRON STAR AND BLACK HOLES
What remains from this cataclysmic stellar explosion depends on the mass of the collapsing core. When
stars, whose total mass is greater than ∼10 times the luminosity of the resulting star. The star is 8 solar masses but less than ∼10 times the luminosity of the resulting star. The star is 12 solar masses, collapse the
result is a neutron star – the core being supported by neutron degeneracy pressure as described above.
The typical mass of such a neutron star would be ∼10 times the luminosity of the resulting star. The star is 1.4 solar masses so that it is, in effect, a giant
nucleus containing ∼10 times the luminosity of the resulting star. The star is 10 57 neutrons. It will have a radius between 10 km and 15 km – the theoretical
models are not all that precise. Assuming a radius of 10 km, the average density would be 6.65 x10 14 g
cm -3 – more than that of an atomic nucleus!
Gravity at the surface would be intense; for a 1.4 solar mass star with a radius of 10 km, the
acceleration due to gravity at the surface would be 190 billion times that on the surface of the Earth and
the speed of an object having fallen from a height of 1 m onto the surface would be 6.88 million km h -1
! A simple Newtonian calculation of the escape velocity from the surface gives a value of 0.643c. This
implies that both special and general relativity need to be invoked when considering neutron stars. The
structure of a neutron star is very complex; part may even be in the form of a superfluid sea of neutrons
which will thus have no viscosity. A neutron star may have an outer crust of heavy nuclei, the majority
being of iron and nickel. Within this is an inner crust containing elements such as krypton, superfluid
neutrons and relativistic degenerate electrons. The inner crust overlays an interior of superfl uid
neutrons intermixed with superconducting protons and relativistic degenerate electrons. Finally there
may be a core of pions or other elementary particles
Like white dwarfs, neutron stars become smaller and denser with increasing mass, but there will
become a point when the neutron degeneracy pressure can no longer support the mass of the star. So, in
an analogous manner to the Chandrasekhar Limit for the maximum mass of a white dwarf, there is a
limit, believed to be about 3 solar masses, beyond which the collapse continues to form
a black hole .
Stars rotate as, for example, our Sun which rotates once every ∼10 times the luminosity of the resulting star. The star is 25 days at its
equator. The core of a star will thus have angular momentum. As the core collapses, much of this must
be conserved (some is transferred to the surrounding material), so the neutron star that results will be
spinning rapidly with rotational periods of perhaps a few milliseconds. The neutron star will also be
expected to have a very intense magnetic fi eld. This rotating field has observational consequences that
have allowed us to discover neutron stars and investigate their properties.
When the neutron star is fi rst born its surface temperature may approach 10 11 K. It initially cools by
emitting neutrinos and antineutrinos – an interesting process that lasts about a day. A neutron decays to
a proton, electron and an antineutrino. The proton then combines with an electron to give a neutron and
a neutrino – a sort of merry-go-round during which the neutrinos carry away energy and cool the star
down to about 10 9 K. Neutrinos carry away much of the star’s energy for about 1000 years whilst the
surface temperature falls to a few million kelvin. Photons – in the form of X-rays – then carry energy
away from the
Black holes
If one projected a ball vertically from the equator of the Earth with increasing speed, there comes a
point, when the speed reaches 11.2 km s -1 , when the ball would not fall back to Earth but would escape
the Earth’s gravitational pull. This is the Earth’s escape velocity. If either the density of the Earth was
greater or its radius smaller (or both) then the escape velocity would increase as Newton’s for-
mula for escape velocity shows:
Vo=√2GM/ro
where v 0 is the escape velocity, M the mass of the object, r 0 its radius and G the universal constant of
gravitation. If one naively used this formula in realms where relativistic formula would be needed, one
could predict the mass and/or size of an object where the escape velocity would exceed the speed of
light and thus nothing, not even light, could escape. The object would then be what is termed a black
hole.
Black holes have no specifically defi ned size or mass, but so far we have only found evidence
for black holes in two circumstances. The first, with masses of up to a billion or more times that of our
Sun, are found the heart of galaxies. The second are believed to result from the collapse of a stellar core
whose mass exceeds ∼10 times the luminosity of the resulting star. The star is 3 solar masses – the point at which neutron degeneracy pressure can no longer
prevent gravitational collapse.
The surface surrounding the remnant within which nothing can escape is called
the event horizon. In the simplest case when the black hole is not rotating, the
event horizon is the surface of a sphere and has a radius, called the Schwarzschild
radius, given by:
R S =2GM/c 2
The interior of an event horizon is forever hidden from us, but Einstein’s theories predict that at
the centre of a non-rotating black hole is a singularity, a point of zero volume and infinite density
where all of the black hole’s mass is located and where space–time is infinitely curved. This author
does not like singularities; in his view they are where the laws of physics are inadequate to describe
what is
actually the case. We know that somehow, Einstein’s classical theory of gravity must be combined with
quantum theory and so, almost certainly, relativity cannot predict what happens at the heart a black
hole.
SUMMARY
A neutron star typically has a diameter of about 20 km, a mass less than 3 M ʘ , a magnetic field 10 12
times stronger than that of the Sun, and a rotation period of roughly 1 second.
• A neutron star consists of a superfluid, superconducting core surrounded by a superfluid mantle and
a thin, brittle crust.
• Intense beams of radiation emanate from regions near the north and south magnetic poles of a neutron
star. These beams are produced by streams of charged particles moving in the star’s intense
magnetic field.
Pulsars: A pulsar is a source of periodic pulses of radio radiation. These pulses are produced as beams
of radio waves from a neutron star’s magnetic poles sweep past the Earth.
• The pulse rate of many pulsars is slowing steadily. This reflects the gradual slowing of the neutron
star’s rotation as it radiates energy into space. Sudden speedups of the pulse rate, called
glitches, may be caused by interactions between the neutron star’s crust and its superfluid interior.
Magnetars: A magnetar is a pulsar with an extraordinarily strong magnetic field. This field is produced
by convection inside the pulsar when it first forms.
• The solid crust of a magnetar is under tremendous magnetic stress. When the surface rearranges in a
starquake, the released magnetic energy produces a powerful burst of X-rays and
gamma rays.
Neutron Stars in Close Binary Systems: If a neutron star is in a close binary system with an ordinary
star, tidal forces will draw gas from the ordinary star onto the neutron star.
• The transfer of material onto the neutron star can make it rotate extremely rapidly, giving rise to a
millisecond pulsar.
• Magnetic forces can funnel the gas onto the neutron star’s magnetic poles, producing hot spots. These
hot spots then radiate intense beams of X rays. As the neutron star rotates, the X-ray beams appear to
flash on and off. Such a system is called a pulsating X-ray variable.
Novae and Bursters: Material from an ordinary star in a close binary can fall onto the surface of the
companion white dwarf or neutron star to produce a surface layer in which thermonuclear reactions can
explosively ignite.
• Explosive hydrogen fusion may occur in the surface layer of a companion white dwarf, producing the
sudden increase in luminosity that we call a nova. The peak luminosity of a nova is only 10 ⫺4 of that 4 of that
observed in a supernova.
• Explosive helium fusion may occur in the surface layer of a companion neutron star. This produces a
sudden increase in X-ray radiation, which we call a burster.

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Summary of Evolution of one solar mass star

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