Stellar Astrophysics

Stellar Astrophysics
Dr. Naeem Sadiq

Institute of Space Science & Technology
University of Karachi
Pre-Main-Sequence Evolution
and the Effect of Mass
The previous slides explained how a
cloud can contract and become a
protostar.
Due to the immense amount of
material in a molecular cloud, it is
believed that rather than an
individual protostar being formed,
several are formed as a star cluster.
However, till yet, there is no satisfactory
explanation for protostars of differing masses
actually forming within the same cloud.
What are the processes that govern the
clumping and fragmentation of the cloud into
protostars of widely differing masses?
Even though we cannot explain the process,
we can at least observe its results.
how protostars of differing mass are
believed to have been formed?
Consider a star of 1M☼, a star just like Sun!
The outer layers of such a protostar are cool
and opaque, which means that energy
released as radiation due to the shrinkage of
the inner layers cannot reach the surface.
Thus, the only way of moving this energy
toward the surface layers must be by the
less-efficient and slower method of
convection.
how protostars of differing mass are
believed to have been formed?
The result of this process is that the
temperature remains more or less
constant as the protostar shrinks,
while the luminosity decreases
because the radius decreases,
►and the evolutionary track moves
downward on the H-R diagram.
This is depicted in Figure
Recall that the surface temperature remains
roughly constant during this phase, but
conditions inside the protostar are far from
unchanging.
The internal temperature starts to increase
during this time, and the interior becomes
ionized.
This reduces the opacity within the protostar
and allows the transfer of energy by radiation
in the interior regions, and by convection in
the outer layers.
This process is the one that is ongoing within
the Sun today!
The net result of these changes is that energy
can escape much more easily from the
protostar, and thus the luminosity increases.
This increase in energy transport is
represented by the evolutionary track’s
bending upward (meaning higher luminosity)
and to the left (higher temperature).
After an interval of a few million years, the
temperature within the protostar is high
enough—10 million K—for nuclear fusion to
begin and, eventually, enough heat and
associated internal pressure are created so as
to balance the gravitational contraction of the
star.
At this point, hydrostatic equilibrium has
been reached, and the protostar has reached
the main sequence—it is now a main-
sequence star.
As to be expected, a more massive protostar
will evolve in a different way.
Protostars with a mass of about or greater
than 4M☼ contract and heat up at a more
rapid rate, and so the hydrogen-burning phase
begins earlier.
The net result is that the luminosity stabilizes
at approximately its final value, but the
surface temperature continues to increase as
the protostar continues to shrink.
The evolutionary track of such a high-mass
protostar illustrates this on the H-R diagram;
the luminosity is nearly horizontal (meaning
nearly constant luminosity) from right to left
(increasing surface temperature).
This is especially true for the stars at mass
9M☼ and 15M ☼ .
An increase in mass will result in a corresponding increase in
pressure and temperature in the interior of a star.
This is very significant because it means that in very massive

stars, there is a much greater temperature difference between
the core and its outer layers as compared to, say, the Sun.
This allows convection to occur much deeper into the star’s

interior regions.
In contrast, the massive star will have very low-density outer
layers, and so energy flow in these regions is more easily
performed by radiative methods than by convective methods.
Thus, stars on the main sequence with a mass greater than about
4M☼ will have convective interiors and radiative outer layers,
while stars less than about 4M ☼ will have radiative interior
regions and convective outer layers.
At the very low end of the mass scale, stars that have a mass less
than about 0.8M☼ have a very different internal structure.
In these objects, the interior temperature of the protostar is
insufficient to ionize the inner region, which is thus too opaque to
allow energy transport by radiation.
The only possible method to transport the energy to the outer layers
is by convection (i.e. no radiation). In these stars, convective
methods are the only means of energy transport.
Examples of the interior
structures of low-mass,
high-mass, and very low-
mass stars are shown in
Figure 3.3.
 Energy flows from the core by convection in the inner regions and
by radiation in the outer layers in stars of mass greater than 4M☼.
 Energy flows outward from the core by radiative means in inner
regions and by convection in outer layers in stars with a mass of
less than 4M ☼ and greater than 0.8M ☼.
 Energy flows outward by convection throughout the interior of the
stars with a mass of less than 0.8M ☼.
A very important point to make
here is that all the evolutionary
tracks shown in Figure end at the
main sequence.
Thus, the main sequence represents
those stars in which nuclear fusion
reactions are producing energy by
converting hydrogen to helium.
For the large majority of stars, this is
a stable situation, and this endpoint
on the main sequence can be
represented by a Mass-Luminosity
Relationship, which is shown in
Figure 3.4.
What this diagram implies is that the

hot bright blue stars are the most
massive, while the cool faint red
stars are the least massive.
Thus, the H-R diagram is a
progression not only in
luminosity and temperature but
in mass, as well. This can be
succinctly summed up as “the
greater the mass, the greater the
luminosity.”
Examples of the interior

structures of low-mass, high-
mass, and very low-mass stars
are shown in Figure 3.3.

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Stellar Astrophysics

Dr. Naeem Sadiq

This is very significant because it means that in very massive

This allows convection to occur much deeper into the star’s

What this diagram implies is that the

Examples of the interior

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