Description
What happens to a star when it runs out of hydrogen in its core? This
lecture describes the post main-sequence evolution of stars. What
happens depends on the star's mass. Low mass stars swell up into Red
Giants, and eventually shed their envelopes and end their lives as white
dwarf stars. High mass stars become Red Supergiants, and if large
enough, end their lives in a spectacular supernova explosion that leaves
behind a neutron star or black hole. The explosion itself creates
massive quantities of heavy elements, which then seed interstellar space
with metals to be incorporated into subsequent generations of stars.
Recorded live on 2009 Nov 12 in Room 1005 Smith Laboratory on the
Columbus campus of The Ohio State University.
Course finale and summary. We look back over where we've been the last
eleven weeks, and bring together all of the main themes of this course
on Life in the Universe. Recorded live on 2009 Dec 4 in Room 1005 Smith
Laboratory on the Columbus campus of The Ohio State University.
Published 12/04/09
How will life, the Universe, and everything end? This lecture looks at
the evolution of our expanding Universe to project the prospects for
life into the distant cosmological future. Recent observations show
that we live in an infinite, accelerating universe. I will trace the
evolution of the...
Published 12/03/09