Life Cycle of a Star

Stars go through a natural cycle, much like any living beings. This cycle begins with birth, expands through a lifespan characterized by change and growth, and ultimately leads to death. The time frame in the life cycle of stars is lasting in the order of billions of years.

Seven Main Stages of a Star

Stars come in a variety of masses, and the mass determines how radiantly the star will shine and how it dies. Massive stars transform into supernovae, neutron stars and black holes while average stars like the sun, end life as a white dwarf surrounded by a disappearing planetary nebula. All-stars, irrespective of their size, follow the same 7 stage cycle.

STAGE 1: Giant Gas Cloud

A star originates from a large cloud of gas. The temperature in the cloud is low enough for the synthesis of molecules. The Orion cloud complex in the Orion system is an example of a star in this stage of life.

STAGE 2: Protostar

When the gas particles in the molecular cloud run into each other, heat energy is produced. This results in the formation of a warm clump of molecules referred to as the Protostar. They are usually surrounded by dust, which blocks the light that they emit, so they are difficult to observe in the visible spectrum. The creation of Protostars can be seen through infrared vision as the Protostars are warmer than other materials in the molecular cloud. Several Protostars can be formed in one cloud, depending on the size of the molecular cloud.

STAGE 3: T-Tauri Phase

A T-Tauri star begins when materials stop falling into the Protostar and release tremendous amounts of energy. The mean temperature of the Tauri star isn’t enough to support nuclear fusion at its core. The T-Tauri star lasts for about 100 million years.

STAGE 4: Main Sequence

The main sequence phase is the stage in development where the core temperature reaches the point for the fusion to commence. In this process, the protons of hydrogen are converted into atoms of helium. This reaction is exothermic; it gives off more heat than it requires, and so the core of a main-sequence star releases a tremendous amount of energy. About 90 per cent of the stars in the universe are main sequence stars. These stars can range from about a tenth of the mass of the sun to up to 200 times as massive. Our Sun is currently in its main sequence phase.

STAGE 5: Red Giant

A star converts hydrogen atoms into helium over its course of life at its core. Eventually, the hydrogen fuel runs out, and the internal reaction stops. Without the reactions occurring at the core, a star contracts inward through gravity causing it to expand. As it expands, the star first becomes a subgiant star and then a red giant. Red giants have cooler surfaces than the main-sequence star, and because of this, they appear red than yellow.

STAGE 6: The Fusion of Heavier Elements

Helium molecules fuse at the core, as the star expands. The energy of this reaction prevents the core from collapsing. The core shrinks and begins fusing carbon, once the helium fusion ends. This process repeats until iron appears at the core. The iron fusion reaction absorbs energy, which causes the core to collapse. This implosion transforms massive stars into a supernova while smaller stars like the sun contract into white dwarfs.

STAGE 7: Supernovae and Planetary Nebulae

Most of the star material is blasted away into space, but the core implodes into a neutron star or a singularity known as the black hole. Less massive stars don’t explode, their cores contract instead into a tiny, hot star known as the white dwarf while the outer material drifts away. Stars tinier than the sun, don’t have enough mass to burn with anything but a red glow during their main sequence. These red dwarves are difficult to spot. But these may be the most common stars that can burn for trillions of years.

Reference:
https://sciencing.com/7-main-stages-star-8157330.html
https://byjus.com/physics/life-cycle-of-stars/

~Nirmala Ravindran~