What are the steps in the death of a high mass star?

Answer 1

As it uses up its core hydrogen, the core will shrink, heat up and begin to fuse helium into carbon, the hydrogen outside the core will ignite and the star will heat up and expand into a red giant star (if it was similar to the mass of the sun then the star will expand to the orbit of the earth).

As the helium runs out the core will shrink further and the sun will blow off its outer layers as what is called a planetary nebular leaving the hot dense core to gradually cool down as what is known as a white dwarf star.

white dwarf

Answer 2

The larger the star, the shorter its life. This is because massive stars have much greater pressure on their cores, causing them to burn hydrogen more quickly. The most massive stars last on average about one million years.

Answer 3

The steps leading up to a dying star are, just before explosion, the first light flash, the flash has gone, and the proper supernova. The final step is a long time after, which is where the remainder of the star spreads throughout space creating a beautiful glow.

Answer 4

A star with a low mass will go through these stages:

1. Protostar nebula

2. Main sequence (as a red dwarf)

3. Red giant

4. Planetary nebula

5. White dwarf

(6. Black dwarf is theorized to occur after white dwarf)

Answer 5

The lowest mass stars are the red dwarfs that may continue to burn very slowly for trillions of years. It is generally unknown how these low mass stars will die, since their life spans are so long, much longer than the current age of the universe. this means that observations on the death of a low mass star cannot be made for many billions of years. It is thought that stars with a mass of 0.5 solar masses or less (half the mass of our own sun or less) will gradually collapse to the end of their life, to eventually become white dwarf stars, which will then cool to become black dwarfs. It is thought that such low mass stars wont be able to enter into a red giant phase where helium becomes the fuel.

Answer 6

1. The high mass star undergoes fusion of heavier elements until it reaches iron in its core.
2. Iron fusion is not energetically favorable, causing the star to collapse under gravity.
3. The core collapses and rebounds in a supernova explosion, leaving behind a neutron star or black hole depending on the mass of the star.

Answer 7

A high-mass star will use up its fuel faster than a low-mass one. Depending on the amount of mass that remains at the end of its life, it may convert to a neutron star, or to a black hole.