Is there a space life-force flow of star dust continually collecting together and drifting apart? Are there ties between singularities, dust clouds and the formation of new stars? Are protostars, brown dwarfs, white dwarfs, red giants, super novas, black holes all just part of ebb and flow of space?
From what I gather; a star is perceived to have a life span and then either turn into a white dwarf, degenerate or super nova. From a super nova a black hole can form. What is known of a black holes life? I find the title black hole confusing to people. It is frequently thought that there is some sort of hole leading to who knows where. I view a blackhole as a dense area of mass. Black ball might be a more appropriate name. Is it possible that black holes become saturated to a point where they must ignite, starting a new star? Is a black hole behind a star dust cloud coming together?
If there were some ongoing cycle of star birth, death and rebirth – How long might this have been going on? Is the big bang an incomplete view, just a duration of time within a limitless timeline?
Thanks for your questions! You are correct that stars have a life cycle that includes birth, mid-life, and "death". A star is born when a cloud of gas collapses under its own gravity to the point where the temperatures and densities are high enough to ignite nuclear fusion. During the star's lifetime, it fuses various elements in its core, producing heat, light, neutrinos, etc. This energy output balances the effect of the stars gravity and supports it against collapse. Eventually it exhausts its fuel and cannot resist further collapse. What happens next depends on the mass of the star: for lighter stars, the end result is a white dwarf; for heavier stars, the collapse results in a supernova and leaves behind a neutron star or a black hole. In all cases, much of the mass of the star, particularly that contained in the outer layers, is scattered into the surrounding medium and can become the raw material for subsequent generations of stars. The objects that are left behind (white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes), are called stellar remnants and are interesting in their own right. Black holes can grow in mass and size by swallowing gas, stars, white dwarfs, neutron stars, or other black holes. Theory predicts that they also will slowly "evaporate" through a process known as Hawking radiation although this process is extremely slow for astrophysical black holes.
ReplyDeleteMore info on stellar evolution: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_evolution
More info on black holes: http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/black_holes.html
Hope that helps!
-Ira & Stephen
for "Ask an Astrophysicist"
Thanks Ira and Stephen.
ReplyDeleteAre there any theories that tie black holes with the formation of gas clouds before a star is born? Any Phoenix theories of stars, where they would go dormant while somehow reaccumulating their mass before igniting again?
Sincerely,
Sean