Can you guess why I am showing you this picture?

Electromagnetic Waves, Stars, and The Universe Contents: How we know what’s in a star (emission spectra) Nuclear Fusion Star life cycles (our sun versus massive stars) Supernovae and creation of heavy elements Black Holes

These shorter wavelengths have more energy. That’s why they’re dangerous. Longer wavelengths (left side) have less energy. Think of these waves a strings that are being shaken. Rapidly shaken (high energy) strings look like the ones on the right.

The Electromagnetic Spectrum Visible light is just a small segment of the continuum. The “red end” of the spectrum has longer wavelengths. The “blue end” has shorter wavelengths. Shorter wavelengths have higher energy, so we know that a red star is cooler and a blue star is hotter.

Blue stars – 40,000 degrees Red stars – 3,000 degrees These green stars are bogus! The stars in the middle of the “rainbow” actually look white, because they’re a mix of the colors on either side. When you mix all the colors of light, you get white.

Why there are no green stars…

Stars emit many different wavelengths of “light.” This light can be separated into its component wavelengths by a prism.

A spectroscope separates radiation into its component wavelengths in an organized way that can be easily analyzed.

When elements are in gas state, they absorb or emit specific wavelengths of radiation. The wavelengths of radiation an element emit or absorb depend on their electron configurations. Those wavelengths can be used as a “fingerprint” to identify elements in distant stars.

Example The black lines are wavelengths of radiation that are absorbed by Neon. If we see these black lines when we analyze starlight with a spectroscope, we know that neon is in the star. Neon Absorption Spectra

“Fingerprints” of different elements

E = Energy produced by nuclear fusion M = Mass that’s “lost” when nuclei fuse. C = Speed of light In the sun, nuclei fuse. When they do this, the products of fusion have less mass than the nuclei that fused. This “lost” mass is actually converted to energy, according to Einstein’s famous equation…

In an average star, like our sun, most of its energy comes from the fusion of Hydrogen. Hydrogen produces helium when it fuses. This helium is heavier, so it sinks to the sun’s core and pushes the hydrogen outward. As our sun ages, this outward movement of fusing Hydrogen will cause the sun to expand. This outward movement also causes the rate of hydrogen fusion to diminish (due to lower pressure away from the core), thus cooling the sun. Cooling will turn it red. 9. Why will the sun get bigger as it gets older? Fusion produces helium (heavier than Hydrogen), which sinks to the sun’s core and displaces hydrogen outward. 10. Why will the sun turn redder as it gets older? As the fusing hydrogen moves outward, it encounters less pressure, so fusion slows down. Temperature drops. Click mouse for questions 9-10

At some point, fusion will no longer occur in the sun’s core. The sun will cool, and that cooling will cause it to shrink. This shrinkage will create compression, which will, in turn, cause the sun to heat back up (and turn from a cooler red to a hotter white). This stage is called a white dwarf. With no fuel remaining, the star will eventually radiate its heat into space and turn to a cold, dark “black dwarf.” This stage is called a “planetary nebula.” The super hot core creates a “solar wind” that blasts away and “lights up” the outer layer of gases.planetary nebula 11. After our sun burns up all of its usable hydrogen, why will it shrink? It will cool down. Things generally shrink when they cool down. 12. Shrinking will cause the sun to turn white (becoming a white dwarf). Why? As the sun shrinks, it compresses itself. This causes it to heat back up and turn from red to white. 13. Eventually, our sun will turn into a black dwarf. Why? The energy it has as a white dwarf will slowly be lost to space. There is no new energy source. Click mouse for questions 11-13

In a massive star, there is enough pressure to cause more fusion. Simply put, the elements in the inner layers come from fusion of the elements in the outer layers. It all starts with hydrogen fusion… The fusion process continues until iron is created. Even in a massive star there is not enough pressure for iron nuclei to fuse. 14. In the beginning, the massive star on the right was mostly _________. Hydrogen 15. Where do the inner layers of a massive star come from? Fusion of the outer layers Click mouse for questions 14-15

Life Cycle of a massive star (25 times the size of the sun) When a massive star runs out of fuel, it collapses. The collapsing outer material speeds toward the star’s center at an extremely high velocity. This outer material then slams into the core and “bounces” back outward. This bounce is an explosion called a supernova. 16. Immediately after running out of fuel, a massive star’s temperature will ________. Decrease 17. The temperature change of #16 will cause the volume of the star to ________. shrink 18. When a massive star runs out of fuel and collapses on itself, its mass collides at its core and bounces back in an explosion called a ____________. As a result of this explosion, the outside layers of the massive star fly away into space, where they can form _____________. If the mass remaining in the dead star’s core is 3 times our sun’s mass, it will form a ____________. If it is less, a __________ may form. supernova Click mouse for questions New nebulas that can turn into new solar systems like ours Black HoleNeutron Star

Life Cycle of a massive star (25 times the size of the sun) A supernova produces such high pressures that elements even heavier than iron are formed by fusion. Many of these elements are scattered into space and “recycled.” They form new nebulas that create new stars. Scientists believe that all of the earth’s heavy elements were created in a massive star that exploded long ago. Our solar system formed from a nebula like this one, but smaller. Scientists believe the heavy elements in our solar system came from a supernova Where were the heaviest (heavier than iron) elements in our bodies created? Supernova explosions 19. Why does the material from dying stars sometimes form “neutron stars?” shrink There is so much pressure that the positive protons and the negative electrons fuse to become neutrons. 20. Two characteristics of Neutron stars are: Extreme density (3 suns compressed into the size of a city --one spoonful would have the same mass as all of the cars on the earth) and very rapid spinning.

Life Cycle of a massive star (25 times the size of the sun) The outer portions of the star are blasted outward and scattered through space. The core becomes so compressed that protons (+) and electrons (-) fuse to create neutrons… If the material remaining in the core is less than 3 solar masses, a very dense “neutron star” is created. If the material remaining in the core is greater than 3 solar masses, its gravitational force is strong enough to cause the collapse of neutrons. The mass compresses itself into an infinitely small point whose gravity is so intense that not even light can escape from it. Ultimate Fate of A Massive Star (Greater than 25 Solar masses)

Our Sun is an average star like this one.

The “Singularity” The “Event Horizon”