How Does a Star Die?

So a star has reached middle age by fusing hydrogen into helium. Then what happens? Once a star has run out of usable hydrogen that it can convert into helium, a star then takes one of several paths.

If the star is 0.5 solar masses (half the mass of our sun), electron degeneracy pressure will prevent the star from collapsing in upon itself. Due to the age of the universe, scientists can only use computer modeling to predict what will happen to such a star. Once it has finished its active phase (hydrogen to helium), it becomes a white dwarf.

A white dwarf can come about in one of two ways; first, if the star is very small, electron degeneracy pressure simply stops the collapse of the star, it is out of hydrogen, and it becomes a white dwarf. Secondly, and more commonly, the core of the star can still be surrounded by some layers of hydrogen, which continue to fuse and cause the star to expand, becoming a red giant.

A red giant is a star in the process of fusing helium to form carbon and oxygen. If there is insufficient energy to make this happen, the outer shell of the star will shed leaving behind an inert core or oxygen and carbon – a remnant white dwarf. If enough energy is involved in the casting off of stellar casings, a nebula can form. If said white dwarf is in a binary system, it could become a type 1A supernova, but this is very rare. Instead, it is thought that a white dwarf will eventually cool to become a black dwarf – in theory because there are no white dwarfs older than the universe, black dwarfs are theoretical only because there hasn’t been enough time for one to form.

If a star that has reached the end of its productive phase is below the Chandrasekhar Limit – 1.4 times the mass of our Sun – it will become a white dwarf; over this limit, it will become a neutron star. If a star is larger than about 5 times the mass of the sun, when the hydrogen fusing stops, a supernova will take place and the rest of the material will condense into a black hole.

We have written many articles about stars on Universe Today. Here’s an article with photographs of a star’s death captured by the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, and here’s an article about a hypergiant star nearing death.

Want more information on stars? Here’s Hubblesite’s News Releases about Stars, and more information from NASA’s imagine the Universe.

We have recorded several episodes of Astronomy Cast about stars. Here are two that you might find helpful: Episode 12: Where Do Baby Stars Come From, and Episode 13: Where Do Stars Go When they Die?

Source: NASA