Friday, February 3, 2012

How does a massive star normally end its life?

A) It gradually shrinks to the size of the Earth.

B) We don't know, because its lifetime is longer than the age of the universe.

C) It collapses inward, and the whole star becomes a black hole.

D) It explodes.How does a massive star normally end its life?D) It explodes.How does a massive star normally end its life?
Massive stars ARE usually short-lived and are known to undergo supernovae. At 4 to 10 solar masses, a neutron star is formed in the aftermath of a supernova. Greater masses result in black holes.

From Wikipedia -- "In general, compact stars of less than 1.44 solar masses 鈥?the Chandrasekhar limit 鈥?are white dwarfs, and above 2 to 3 solar masses (the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff limit), a quark star might be created; however, this is uncertain. Gravitational collapse will usually occur on any compact star between 10 and 25 solar masses and produce a black hole."How does a massive star normally end its life?D) It explode in a supernova. This explosion may leave a remnant the diameter of Earth (White Dwarf), or ~10km across (neutron star) or even smaller and denser (black hole). The more massive the star, the denser the remnant.How does a massive star normally end its life?
D - It explodes as a supernova. C is more rare than supernova explosions.

It's also possible that it ends its life by shooting itself with a handgun, but this is rare.How does a massive star normally end its life?Massive stars are typically short-lived and normally end its existence in an explosion called a super nova.How does a massive star normally end its life?
It could be c or d. Sometimes it becomes a black hole and othetimes it doesn't. I think certain stars depends on what happens.
  • textfree pinger
  • No comments:

    Post a Comment