21st Century Astronomy
6th Edition
ISBN: 9780393428063
Author: Kay
Publisher: NORTON
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Chapter 16.1, Problem 16.1CYU
To determine
The reason for which the main-sequence lifetime of a star depend on its mass.
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The Hertzsprung-Russell diagram contains a region called the main sequence. Stars on this sequence have specific characteristics not found in other stars. What are these characteristics?
a.Stars on the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram main sequence have roughly the same age.
b.Stars on the main sequence of the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram are all roughly the same radius.
c.Stars on the main sequence of the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram have an orderly arrangement of stellar masses, decreasing in mass from lower right to upper left.
d.Stars on the main sequence of a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram do not produce heavy elements like iron.
e.Stars on the main sequence of a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram all generate energy from nuclear fusion.
f.None of the mentioned choices.
Aristotle was a great Greek philosopher with many amazing ideas. Which of these statements about him is not true?
a.Many of his claims about physics and astronomy were wrong.
b.He was the first person to recognize…
There is a mass–luminosity relation because
a.
hydrogen fusion produces helium.
b.
stars expand when they become giants.
c.
stars support their weight by making energy.
d.
the helium flash occurs in degenerate matter.
e.
all stars on the main sequence have about the same radius.
Which of the following is wrong?
A. Tidal effects in a binary star system become more important when one or both stars become giant stars.
B. There is no fusion occurring in the core of a low-mass red giant star.
C. Gold (the element) is produced during the supernova explosions of high-mass stars.
D. Suppose the star Betelgeuse were to become a supernova tomorrow, we'd see by naked eyes a cloud of gas expanding away from the position where Betelgeuse used to be. Over a period of a few weeks, this cloud would fill a large part of our sky.
Chapter 16 Solutions
21st Century Astronomy
Ch. 16.1 - Prob. 16.1CYUCh. 16.3 - Prob. 16.3CYUCh. 16.4 - Prob. 16.4CYUCh. 16.5 - Prob. 16.5CYUCh. 16 - Prob. 1QPCh. 16 - Prob. 2QPCh. 16 - Prob. 3QPCh. 16 - Prob. 4QPCh. 16 - Prob. 5QPCh. 16 - Prob. 6QP
Ch. 16 - Prob. 8QPCh. 16 - Prob. 9QPCh. 16 - Prob. 10QPCh. 16 - Prob. 11QPCh. 16 - Prob. 12QPCh. 16 - Prob. 13QPCh. 16 - Prob. 14QPCh. 16 - Prob. 15QPCh. 16 - Prob. 16QPCh. 16 - Prob. 17QPCh. 16 - Prob. 18QPCh. 16 - Prob. 19QPCh. 16 - Prob. 20QPCh. 16 - Prob. 21QPCh. 16 - Prob. 23QPCh. 16 - Prob. 24QPCh. 16 - Prob. 25QPCh. 16 - Prob. 26QPCh. 16 - Prob. 27QPCh. 16 - Prob. 28QPCh. 16 - Prob. 29QPCh. 16 - Prob. 30QPCh. 16 - Prob. 31QPCh. 16 - Prob. 32QPCh. 16 - Prob. 33QPCh. 16 - Prob. 34QPCh. 16 - Prob. 35QPCh. 16 - Prob. 36QPCh. 16 - Prob. 37QPCh. 16 - Prob. 38QPCh. 16 - Prob. 39QPCh. 16 - Prob. 40QPCh. 16 - Prob. 41QPCh. 16 - Prob. 42QPCh. 16 - Prob. 43QPCh. 16 - Prob. 44QPCh. 16 - Prob. 45QP
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- Which of the following binary star systems cannot exist? A. A 1 solar-mass main sequence star and a 4 solar mass red giant with a size 100 times smaller than the orbital distance. B. A 15 solar-mass main sequence star and a 10 solar mass red giant with a size 100 times smaller than the orbital distance. C. A 1 solar-mass main sequence star and a 4 solar-mass main sequence star. D. A 2 solar-mass main sequence star and a 1 solar mass red giant with a size a few times smaller than the orbital distance.arrow_forwardWhich of the following statements is wrong? A. A main-sequence star is cooler and brighter than it was as a protostar. B. Carbon fusion occurs in high-mass stars but not in low-mass stars because the cores of low-mass stars never contain significant amounts of carbon. C. when a main-sequence star exhausts its core hydrogen fuel supply, the core shrinks while the rest of the star expands. D. After a supernova explosion, the remains of the stellar core will be either a neutron star or a black hole.arrow_forwardThe theory that the collapse of a massive star’s iron core produces neutrinos was supported by a. the size and structure of the Crab nebula. b. laboratory measurements of the mass of the neutrino. c. the brightening of supernovae a few days after they are first visible. d. underground counts from solar neutrinos. e. the detection of neutrinos from the supernova of 1987.arrow_forward
- A group of graduate students, bored during a cloudy night at a the observatory, begin to make bets about the time different stars will take to evolve. If they have a cluster of stars which were all born roughly the same time, and want to know which star will become a red giant first, which of the following stars should they bet on? a. a star that would type O on the main sequence star b. a star about 1/2 the mass of our sun c. a star about 8% the mass of our sun d. all stars reach the red giant stage in roughly the same number of yearsarrow_forwardAs a white dwarf cools, its radius will not change because a. pressure resulting from nuclear reactions in a shell just below the surface keeps it from collapsing. b. pressure does not depend on temperature for a white dwarf because the electrons are degenerate. c. pressure does not depend on temperature because the white dwarf is too hot. d. pressure does not depend on temperature because the star has exhausted all its nuclear fuels. e. material accreting onto it from a companion maintains a constant radius.arrow_forwardThe triple-alpha process a. controls the pulsations in Cepheid variable stars. b. is the nuclear fusion of hydrogen to helium in massive stars. c. is the process that produces the neutrinos we receive from the sun. d. requires a temperature of about 5,000,000 K to operate. e. fuses helium nuclei to make carbon and occurs during helium flash.arrow_forward
- You discover a binary star system in which one member is a 15 solar-mass main-sequence star and the other star is a 10 solar-mass giant. Why should you be surprised, at least at first? A. It doesn't make sense to find a giant in a binary star system. B. The two stars in a binary system should both be at the same point in stellar evolution; that is, they should either both be main-sequence stars or both be giants. C. The two stars should be the same age, so the more massive one should have become a giant first. D. The odds of ever finding two such massive stars in the same binary system are so small as to make it inconceivable that such a system could be discovered. E. A star with a mass of 15 solar-mass is too big to be a main-sequence star.arrow_forwardStar clusters are important to our study of stars because a. all stars formed in star clusters. b. the sun was once a member of a globular cluster. c. they give us a method to test our theories and models of stellar evolution. d. they are the only objects that contain Cepheid variables. e. all of the above are true.arrow_forwardAll massive main sequence stars reside in clouds of glowing gas. The four powerful stars in the center of the Orion Nebula are good examples. Lower mass stars like the Sun generally don't have clouds of gas around them. a. Why do powerful stars reside in gas clouds? b. What is making the gas glow exactly? For the last question, refer to the surface temperature of these stars, and to Wien's Law.arrow_forward
- Based on what you know about main-sequence stars, select all of the correct statements from the following list. 1. Since the interiors of stars cannot be observed, there are no theories about their structure. 2. More massive stars are hotter and brighter. 3. The weight of a star must be balanced by internal pressure. 4. More massive stars live longer; they take longer to use up all their energy. 5. Stars change position on the main sequence throughout their lives. 6. Outward energy flow in a star is by conduction only.arrow_forwardWhich of the following statements about various stages of core nuclear burning (hydrogen, helium, carbon, etc.) in a high- mass star is not true? A. As each stage ends, the core shrinks and heats further. B. Each successive stage creates an element with a higher atomic number and atomic mass number. C. As each stage ends, the reactions that occurred in previous stages continue in shells around the core. D.Each successive stage lasts for approximately the same amount of time.arrow_forwardWhich of the following statements about novae is not true? A. A nova involves fusion taking place on the surface of a white dwarf. B. A star system that undergoes a nova may have another nova sometime in the future. C. Our Sun will probably undergo at least one nova when it becomes a white dwarf about 5 billion years from now. D. When a star system undergoes a nova, it brightens considerably, but not as much as a star system undergoing a supernova. Is the answer C? Since the sun has no companion star, it cannot gain accreted matter to initiate a nova and so it would not undergo a nova, it would just undergo a type I supernova? Thanks!arrow_forward
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