pressure-temperature thermostat
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Stellar Evolution Demystified
Whaddya know…after what seems like a geological age, we’re finally done with stellar evolution! And we’ve covered a truly ridiculous amount of information. We’ve covered a star’s relatively gentle, humble beginnings within the collapsing cores of giant molecular clouds (or…
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How Low-Mass Stars Die
When we talk about star death, we’re not really talking about death. We’re talking about the end of a functioning star. Astronomers tend to personify cosmic objects like stars, saying that they are born and die, when it’s more like…
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What Happens After Helium Fusion?
Back in August — sorry I took so long! — we talked about the helium flash, an explosion that occurs within stars when helium nuclei begin to fuse within a degenerate core. So…this is not what the helium flash would…
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Helium Ignition in Stars
When I first began learning about stars, I expected them to be violent and chaotic places. And to an extent, they certainly are. Pressures are unbelievably high in their cores — high enough to smash protons together, and this is…
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How a Star Expands
Meet Betelgeuse, a bright star in the winter constellation Orion. Betelgeuse is a cool red supergiant that we’ll talk about a lot more in just a couple weeks, when we cover variable stars. Not too long ago, it was the…
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The Adult Life of a Star
Stars are like cars. They need fuel to go. And also like cars, they don’t have an infinite supply. But here’s where the metaphor breaks down. They can never refuel. Yup. That’s right. For their entire lives, stars are stuck…
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What is a “Normal” Star?
If we were talking about people, I’d say there’s no such thing as a “normal” person. We’re all weird in our own way — that’s what makes us unique and ourselves. However, there’s such a thing as a functional human…
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What Keeps a Star Stable?
All life as we know it has to maintain homeostasis — that is, keep internal goings-on regulated. Body temperature is just one example. Mammals can maintain a stable body temperature with no trouble. Reptiles have to bask in the sun…
