Stars: Birth and Death

Synopsis: Looks at the different stages in the birth and death of stars. Divided into 2 sections: Part 1 (13 minutes) explains how stars are composed of hydrogen and helium and how these gases fuel them; how all solar events (e.g. prominences, flares and sunspots) are created by nuclear fusion and fierce magnetic fields within the sun; how the extreme temperatures at the core of the sun and every star create a constant process of thermonuclear fusion, in turn releasing enormous amounts of electro-magnetic radiation in all wavelengths; how size and gravity determine the length of a star’s life and how it will eventually die, often forming red giants and white dwarfs.
Part 2 (15 minutes) explains how the outer layers of a red giant are blown off to form vast clouds called nebulae, leaving a white dwarf remnent core; how gravity allows stars to be reborn from nebulae; how gravity also works to reduce the largest stars into the smallest core remnants at the end of their lives, leading to the formation of neutron/pulsar stars, supernovae and black holes.
Language: English
Country: United States
Year of release: 2003
Year of production: 2003
Subjects: Astronomy; Physics
Keywords: astronomical bodies; cosmology; stars

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