Stellar Evolution - The Life and Death of Stars

Stars are essential to life on Earth. Not only does our Sun provide the energy required for plants to photosynthesise, producing food and oxygen but the very atoms of carbon, oxygen and iron in our bodies were formed under the extreme conditions in the cores of earlier generations of stars. In this section we will explore the stages involved in the "lives" of stars and the physical processes that underpin them.

Syllabus requirements

6. Stars evolve and eventually ‘die’

• describe the processes involved in stellar formation
• outline the key stages in a star’s life in terms of the physical processes involved
• describe the types of nuclear reactions involved in Main-Sequence and post-Main Sequence stars
• discuss the synthesis of elements in stars by fusion
• explain how the age of a globular cluster can be determined from its zero-age main sequence plot for a H-R diagram
• explain the concept of star death in relation to:
  • planetary nebula
  • supernovae
  • white dwarfs
  • neutron stars/pulsars
  • black holes
• present information by plotting Hertzsprung-Russell diagrams for: nearby or brightest stars, stars in a young open cluster, stars in a globular cluster
• analyse information from a H-R diagram and use available evidence to determine the characteristics of a star and its evolutionary stage
• present information by plotting on a H-R diagram the pathways of stars of 1, 5 and 10 solar masses during their life cycle