Lab 5

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Purdue University, Northwest *

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264

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Apr 3, 2024

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ASTR 264 Name ____ _ Lab Activity 5 : Star Lives 1 . Read the article “Magnetic Fields Guide Star Birth” by Space.com staff, 29 Sept. 2009 ( http://www.space.com/7345-magnetic-fields-guide-star-birth.html ). a. Stars form from collapsing gas clouds, yet only a small amount of the entire cloud actually turns into stars. What are two leading theories for forces that may prevent some of the gas from collapsing? According to the article’s scientists, the two main theories for forces that may prevent some of the gas from collapsing are turbulence and magnetic fields. One reason for this is the fact that gravity draws matter together, which helps star formation. In addition, scientists reason that another factor must be impeding the process so turbulence and magnetic fields are the two leading contenders. b. Explain how these two forces could prevent some gas from collapsing. Gas flows across magnetic fields. This makes it difficult to draw gas in from all directions. These magnetic fields are formed by moving electrical charges and are found around stars and most planets, including Earth. Gas is then stirred up by turbulence. Thus, creating an outward pressure that opposes gravity. c. How did the researchers come to the conclusion that one of these forces may dominate over the other during the star formation process? The alignment of magnetically and electrically oriented components in polarized light was examined by researchers. By analyzing the polarization, they were able to calculate the magnetic fields within each cloud core and compare them to the fields in the nearby nebula. Despite significant differences in size and density between the cores and nebulas, the magnetic fields tended to align in a consistent direction. This discovery highlights the role of magnetic fields, in addition to gravity, in connecting closely located molecular cloud cores. Consequently, it emphasizes the importance of incorporating high magnetic fields into computer simulations that aim to predict star formation. 2. Read this interview regarding the James Webb Space Telescope ( https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/webb-conversations-its-all-about-infrared-why- build-the-james-webb-space-telescope ). This telescope was launched last year with the goal of, among other things, further understanding the star formation process. a. Summarize in your own words why infrared light is so useful for observing protostars and planet formation. Clouds are permeable to infrared light, allowing us to view within. So, using infrared light will help us to look through the dust. This is beneficial since dust blocks our view when stars and planets originate in gas and dust clouds. b. How will Webb distinguish between stars and planets?

ASTR 264 Act 9 Having a cooler temperature than the sun, planets don't emit visible light. They also do not produce any visible light of their own. However, they do reflect some of the visible light from their parent stars. 3. Explain why molecular clouds are good places for stars to begin forming. The densest areas of molecular clouds are where stars form. In our region of the Milky Way Galaxy, the characteristics of belief gas exist contain 70% Helium. Because of the fusion of these atoms into molecules and the high amount of helium and its atomic nature, it is far more likely in extremely dense places, molecular clouds make good star-forming zones. 4. What are 2 distinctive features most protostars have that we can observe? A protostar resembles a star, but its core is still too cool for fusion to occur. Most light protostars release is typically blocked by dust, making the study of the visible spectrum. Challenging. 5. a. How is hydrogen fusion in main sequence high mass stars different from that in main sequence low mass stars? Stars with high mass initially go through a similar process to low-mass stars. However, everything happens Faster. Although one may have a hydrogen fusion core, the CNO cycle(carbon-nitrogen-oxygen) facilitates a large portion of the hydrogen fusion. b. Why is this different hydrogen fusion process for high-mass stars necessary? The proton-proton cycle's reaction rate is more responsive to temperature than the CNO cycle, and the cores of low-mass stars are not heat intense enough for the CNO cycle to generate much energy. So, this is the reason why it is necessary to have different hydrogen fusion processes for high-mass stars. 6. Many elements common on Earth and in our bodies were forged in the centers of high mass stars. The periodic table of the elements is ordered by the number of protons in the nucleus of each element. This is also called the atomic number . For several of the fusion reactions in late-stage high-mass stars, the number of protons stays constant. Using the periodic table in Appendix D, determine the products of the following nuclear fusion reactions (hint: just add up their element numbers to get the resulting element): a. Helium + Carbon → _Oxygen_ d. Helium + Oxygen → Helium Oxide b. Carbon + Oxygen → _Carbon Dioxide and Carbon Monoxide E. Carbon + Neon → N/A (No reaction Found). c. Oxygen + Oxygen → __Oxygen____ f. Helium + Neon → __N/A (No Reaction).

ASTR 264 Act 9 7. What observational evidence do we have that the heavy elements (oxygen, silicon, iron, etc.) are created in the interiors of massive stars? Supernovas. When heavy elements are created during neutron capture processes, which do not involve fusion, in a supernova explosion. Because of this, it is said that stars and supernovae are the source of most of the material that surrounds us. This mainly concerns the heavy metal part .

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Lab 5

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