Stars Dying, Type I, Type II Supernovae Essay Example

reprieve. After that, the star begins to shed the outer layers in the form of cloud known as a planetary nebula. At this point, the star sheds about 80% of the star initial mass. The remaining mass starts to cool moreover shrink until its diameter is few thousand miles. At this point, the star becomes a white dwarf. The white dwarf radiates the remaining heat in space. Eventually, it becomes a cold mass sitting in the space known as a black dwarf (Stevenson, 2015).

The supernova is the volatile death of a star. It results to high brightness of more than 100 million times for a short while. The Type I occurs in the dual star systems. In the case, one star emits the gas that falls on a white dwarf causing an explosion. The white dwarf is subject to degeneration. The process occurs only to star mass less than 1.4 times the sun. The dual starts losses momentum until they become close together. The move causes transfer of the matter to the companion star to the thick lining around the white dwarf. Therefore, the mass of the white dwarf increases to a value higher than the critical value. Eventually, the star collapses leading to burning of carbon and oxygen by the nuclear energy. The burning generates enough energy to blow the star into bits (Stevenson, 2013).

Alternatively, type II occurs in massive stars than the sun. The star suffers internal nuclear reactions at their demise leading to an explosion. The explosion leaves black holes and neutron stars. The hydrogen becomes exhausted and burning occurs only at the shell around the helium core. The burning occurs due

to the gravity contraction. The burning phase lasts for million years. The helium burns into carbon and oxygen. Furthermore, the contraction causes the conversion of carbon into neon and magnesium then to silicon and finally to iron. The iron cannot further emit energy hence no radiation pressure to match the gravitational force. Eventually, a shock wave occurs that leads to an explosion. The explosion expels the planetary material into the space leading to supernova (Stevenson, 2013).

References

1. Stevenson, D. S. (2013). Extreme explosions: Supernovae, Hypernovae, Magnetars, And Other Unusual Cosmic Blasts. New York: Springer.
2. Stevenson, D. S. (2015). The Complex Lives of Star Clusters. Cham: Springer.
3. Order 62271: Stars dying, Type I ,Type II supernovae Inbox.