AST 301 — Unit Six Outline

Prof. Paul R. Shapiro

Unit Six: Stellar Structure or "What Is a Star?"

(1) The Sun: the reference star

(2) Stellar Masses, Sizes, and Densities

(3) Observability of Stars

(4) Luminosity Function in Solar Neighborhood

(5) Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram

(6) Mass-Luminosity Relation for Main Sequence Stars

(7) Lifetimes of Stars and Fuel Efficiency

(8) The Gas Laws

(9) Stellar Equilibria
      (a) Hydrostatic Equilibrium
      (b) Thermal Euilibrium
            (i) heat transfer
            (ii) opacity

(10) Explaining the Mass-Luminosity Relation

(11) Age of Sun

(12) Energy Source in Stars

(13) Mass and Energy in Special Relativity
(14) Nuclear Reactions: Fission vs. Fusion

(15) Stellar Fusion

      (a) Nucleosynthesis: H - Fe
      (b) energy release and fuel efficeincy
      (c) rate of energy production
      (d) two chief routes for H to He fusion
            (i) Proton-Proton chain
            (ii) C-N Cycle
      (e) Solar Neutrino Problem
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The University of Texas at Austin Department of Astronomy Astrophysics Theory Group