In a star of 1 solar mass (M☉), the core hydrogen burning phase, also known as the main sequence phase, lasts for approximately 10 billion years. Suppose there's a star of 15 solar masses (M☉). Stars of higher mass burn through their hydrogen at a faster rate, following an approximate relation that the lifetime of a star on the main sequence (T) is proportional to its mass (M) raised to the power of -2.5 (T ∝ M^-2.5). Calculate approximately how long this 15 solar mass star would remain in the main sequence phase, compared to the 1 solar mass star.
Stellar evolution
We may see thousands of stars in the dark sky. Our universe consists of billions of stars. Stars may appear tiny to us but they are huge balls of gasses. Sun is a star of average size. Some stars are even a thousand times larger than the sun. The stars do not exist forever they have a certain lifetime. The life span of the sun is about 10 billion years. The star undergoes various changes during its lifetime, this process is called stellar evolution. The structure of the sun-like star is shown below.
Red Shift
It is an astronomical phenomenon. In this phenomenon, increase in wavelength with corresponding decrease in photon energy and frequency of radiation of light. It is the displacement of spectrum of any kind of astronomical object to the longer wavelengths (red) side.
In a star of 1 solar mass (M☉), the core hydrogen burning phase, also known as the main sequence phase, lasts for approximately 10 billion years.
Suppose there's a star of 15 solar masses (M☉). Stars of higher mass burn through their hydrogen at a faster rate, following an approximate relation that the lifetime of a star on the main sequence (T) is proportional to its mass (M) raised to the power of -2.5 (T ∝ M^-2.5).
Calculate approximately how long this 15 solar mass star would remain in the main sequence phase, compared to the 1 solar mass star.
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