Life Cycle of Stars - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages The subsequent experiment proved that Light displays a dual nature. While on the one hand particles are supposed to have some mass which can respond to forces (acceleration) waves can transfer energy from one place to another. The Corpuscular theory of Newton proved in 1670 that light corpuscles have mass and travel at extremely high speeds in straight lines, obeying the laws of reflection and dispersion. While the Huygens principles proved that light was composed of longitudinal waves like sound. Subsequent experiments also proved that light waves do produce diffraction and interference. Taking an aesthetic view of light, we can very say that had there been no light, life would not have been possible on earth. While Sun is the brightest star for us as it is the source of light for us, there are many more such stars, equally or more bright, but their light doesn’t reach us in equal measure because they are situated at a distance of many more light years from us, for example, 'Bullet Star' is said to shine 350 times brighter than the sun . In fact, the amount of information that is available in the depth of universe remains largely unexplored and astronomers are still on the lookout for more.
Stars are an integral part of the Universe system. Other components of the universe include planets, black holes, galaxies etc. The universe is everything that we can perceive and much more that is beyond our perception. Astronomers predict that there are zillions of stars in the universe. Some of them are red stars, some yellow stars while some other are known as blue giant stars. Their life time varies from millions of years to trillions of years. Small red stars are the one's burning their energy very slowly and are very cool. Therefore their lifetimes goes upto trillions of years, after which these stars end up as heavy little cinders. Yellow stars, like the sun, take billions of years before becoming white dwarf stars. Blue stars, also known as giant stars, burn their fuel fiercely and after millions of years end up their life with a loud explosion. The amount of energy release during the fuel burning process can be estimated from the fact that, when nuclear scientists undertake controlled fusion process; it results in an atom bomb. Stars are like giant nuclear reactors. In fusion, many nuclei combine together to form a larger one. In the process lot of energy is released, that's why stars appear as bright objects and emit much of their energy as visible light.

Birth of Star: Stars are born with the help of huge clouds of gaseous elements and dust particles available in the outer space. This space dust and cloud, consisting of hydrogen and helium, is also known as Nebulae. When these clouds of dust and gas collapse under heavy gravitational pull, the temperature inside the formation starts rising. Gradually the temperature levels reach to several thousand degrees. Thereafter the hydrogen molecules start ionizing. In the process these molecules become single protons, as the electrons escape from them. This leads to the formation of a young star called protostar.
Growth of star: The rise in temperature inside the star continues with further contraction of gases. And when the temperature reaches a level of about 10,000,000 degrees Celsius (18,000,000 degrees Fahrenheit), nuclear fusion starts. At this point, the protostar becomes a full fledged star and becomes a part of the main sequence of the universe. Depending upon the process of fusion, ferocity of heat generation and the surface brightness stars can further be classified as; ...Download file to see next pagesRead More