ASTRON C10 Lecture Notes - Lecture 23: Nuclear Fusion, Gravitational Energy, Degenerate Matter

• School: Berkeley
• Department: Astronomy
• Course: ASTRON C10
• Professor: Alexei Filippenko

Document Summary

No long-term fusion, but does occur for a short time. T is not high enough for sustained nuclear reactions. Held together by strange pressure: degeneracy pressure. In center of a star, the temperature is very high. But, the strong nuclear force that binds protons and neutrons is much stronger than the. Need high t (particles moving very fast) to overcome the electric repulsion of hydrogen electric force, so gamma rays are released: later converted to optical and infrared. In sun"s core, nearly 700 million tons of protons (hydrogen nuclei) are being converted to. Vast majority: low-mass stars (up to 8 solar masses) No nuclear reactions in core, so contracts to replenish .