The Death of High-Mass Stars
Aug 8, 2019 21:31:12 GMT -5
Post by Radrook Admin on Aug 8, 2019 21:31:12 GMT -5
The Death of High-Mass Stars
Initially all stars fuse hydrogen into helium in their cores. This initial stage of their lifespan is called the main sequence stage. The time it spends fusing hydrogen into helium depends on how massive the star is because mass determines the rate at which such fusion takes place. High mass stars fuse hydrogen into helium at a much higher rate than low-mass stars. Low mass stars such as red dwarfs might spend a longer time than the current age of the universe in that main sequence stage while very high-mass stars will spend perhaps only a few million years.
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Spectral Class and mass
O, B, A, F, G, K and M.
Stars are divided into different classes according to their spectral characteristics. The main spectral classes, in order of decreasing temperature, are O, B, A, F, G, K and M. These classes also correspond to the mass of stars, with O-class stars being the most massive.
The sun is a G-class star. M-class stars have a mass of roughly 10 percent of the sun's and have a surface temperature between 2,500 to 3,900 K. By contrast, O-class stars can have a mass 60 times greater than the sun's and have surface temperatures ranging from 30,000 to 50,000 K. Spectral class B includes stars with masses around two or three times the mass of the sun to around 18 times the mass of the sun. The temperature of B-class stars ranges from 11,000 to 30,000 K. Spectral classes A and F include stars that are only slightly more massive than the sun.
sciencing.com/what-are-the-characteristics-of-a-high-mass-star-12731019.html
The video below explains how high-mass stars shift away from the main sequence and the characteristics of the stages that follow it.