ASTR 1210 Chapter Notes - Chapter 18: Electron Degeneracy Pressure, White Dwarf, Binary Star

• School: University of Virginia
• Department: Astronomy
• Course: ASTR 1210
• Professor: Murphy Edward

Document Summary

Chap 18 book notes: low-mass stars like sun leave white dwarf when die, high mass stars explode in supernova and leave neutron. Star like our sun leaves behind carbon white dwarf. If they"re bigger, can have oxygen or some heavier- not iron. A typical white dwarf has mass of sun compressed into object the size of the earth. Density of white dwarf is so high, 1 tsp would weigh a ton. More massive white dwarfs are smaller than less massive ones (1. 3 m star"s white dwarf is smaller in radius than 1 m star"s) The smaller the size, the faster the electrons are moving b/c that"s how they respond to more compression: the white dwarf limit. No white dwarf can have a mass greater than 1. 4msun. This is b/c electrons reach the speed of light past this, and that"s obv not possible. What can happen to a white dwarf in a close binary system: accretion disks.