PHYS 182 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Escape Velocity, Cosmic Distance Ladder, Local Group
24 Jan 2018
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Document Summary
Gravity does not win the battle against pressure so no collapse. White dwarf with mass of sun ~ size of earth. More massive the white dwarf, the smaller the radius. Material is arranging to support extra mass. Over time they cool and fade (slide down white dwarf region of hr diagram) Radiates energy and slowly fades and cools. Binary systems has a high mass star and low mass star orbit around a common center of mass. With a companion main sequence star, we can observe mass transfer to the white swar star. High mass star evolves on a faster scale than low mass. High mass star will become a giant/supergiant. It could even swallow orbits or nearby planets. End up with mass transfer between both stars. Mass (hydrogen) from high mass star goes to low mass star. Low mass star gets larger and brighter. Can transfer enough mass that low mass star becomes high mass star!
