PSU ASTRO 7N EXAM LATEST
2
Red Dwarfs
Which stars are located on the lower right of the HR Diagram?
Cool, faint, small
Blue Giants
Which stars are located on the upper left of the HR Diagram?
Hot, bright, large
Red Giants/Supergiants
Not on the main sequence
Burning helium and other elements in their cores (not hydrogen)
Starting to die
Large and very luminous
Cooler
Top right of HR DIagram
Stellar nursery, protostar, main sequence, red giant, planetary
nebula, white dwarf
Sun's History
Planetary Nebula
Ejected envelope (the layers of the core) of a low to intermediate mass
star
White Dwarf
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, PSU ASTRO 7N EXAM LATEST
2
End state of a star's core
About the size of the Earth
Brown Dwarfs
Failed stars
Don't heat up enough to have nuclear reactions in their core
Onion Skin Model
When a massive star burns through hydrogen and then helium and then
more massive elements it leaves behind layers
Concentric shells of fusion zones involving different chemicals
Iron
Stable element that stops the burning of a star
Type II Supernova
Violent explosion with the star's core left behind
Creates an environment for the fusion of elements heavier than iron to
form
Event Horizon
Spherical boundary around a black hole where nothing can escape
Escape velocity of this area is faster than the speed of light
Singularity
A point of infinite density
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2
, PSU ASTRO 7N EXAM LATEST
2
Drake Equation
Method to estimate the number (N) of communicating/technological
civilizations in our Galaxy
Hydrogen and Helium
What gases make up the sun?
Magnetic Activity
What causes sunspots?
Helium-4
What is made from 4 protons during fusion in the sun?
Deuterium Nucleus (and released energy)
Step 1 of P-P Chain
What forms when two protons collide at very high speeds?
Helium-3 Nucleus
Step 2 of P-P Chain
When deuterium and a proton collide it makes this
Helium-4 Nucleus (and 2 protons and energy)
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3
2
Red Dwarfs
Which stars are located on the lower right of the HR Diagram?
Cool, faint, small
Blue Giants
Which stars are located on the upper left of the HR Diagram?
Hot, bright, large
Red Giants/Supergiants
Not on the main sequence
Burning helium and other elements in their cores (not hydrogen)
Starting to die
Large and very luminous
Cooler
Top right of HR DIagram
Stellar nursery, protostar, main sequence, red giant, planetary
nebula, white dwarf
Sun's History
Planetary Nebula
Ejected envelope (the layers of the core) of a low to intermediate mass
star
White Dwarf
END OF
PAGE
1
, PSU ASTRO 7N EXAM LATEST
2
End state of a star's core
About the size of the Earth
Brown Dwarfs
Failed stars
Don't heat up enough to have nuclear reactions in their core
Onion Skin Model
When a massive star burns through hydrogen and then helium and then
more massive elements it leaves behind layers
Concentric shells of fusion zones involving different chemicals
Iron
Stable element that stops the burning of a star
Type II Supernova
Violent explosion with the star's core left behind
Creates an environment for the fusion of elements heavier than iron to
form
Event Horizon
Spherical boundary around a black hole where nothing can escape
Escape velocity of this area is faster than the speed of light
Singularity
A point of infinite density
END OF
PAGE
2
, PSU ASTRO 7N EXAM LATEST
2
Drake Equation
Method to estimate the number (N) of communicating/technological
civilizations in our Galaxy
Hydrogen and Helium
What gases make up the sun?
Magnetic Activity
What causes sunspots?
Helium-4
What is made from 4 protons during fusion in the sun?
Deuterium Nucleus (and released energy)
Step 1 of P-P Chain
What forms when two protons collide at very high speeds?
Helium-3 Nucleus
Step 2 of P-P Chain
When deuterium and a proton collide it makes this
Helium-4 Nucleus (and 2 protons and energy)
END OF
PAGE
3
