Stars
A star field in the region of Sagittarius showing a range of stars.
Stars have long fascinated us. Remote and seemingly inaccessible, we now have a solid understanding of many of the properties and processes of stars. They are not fixed or permanent, instead they have a life cycle determined by their mass and location. In this unit you will examine the main types of stars and their sources of energy. We will apply basic properties of light and thermodynamics to determine some stellar properties.
Syllabus Requirements
3. Stars have a limited life span and may explode to form supernovas
- define the relationship between the temperature of a body and the dominant wavelength of the radiation emitted from that body
- identify that the surface temperature of a star is related to its colour
- describe a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram as the graph of a star’s luminosity against its colour or surface temperature
- identify energy sources characteristic of each star group, including Main Sequence, red giants, and white dwarfs
- gather secondary information to relate brightness of an object to its luminosity and distance
- solve problems to apply the inverse square law of intensity of light to relate the brightness of a star to its luminosity and distance from the observer
- process and analyse information using the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram to examine the variety of star groups, including Main Sequence, red giants, and white dwarfs.
Physics Stage 6 Syllabus © Copyright 2002 The State of New South Wales (Board of Studies).
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