Astronomy : Lives of Stars (I) Quiz

Quiz
*Theme/Title: Lives of Stars (I)
* Description/Instructions
Clouds of hydrogen gas, dust, ice and molecules exist in space. Over time, the cloud becomes dense by attracting neighboring particles. This increases the mass and gravity of the cloud. This is called a protostar. Density of the protostar increases as more gas, dust and ice are attracted to the cloud and matter begins to compress until the pressure and temperature rises. When the central temperature of the protostar reaches ten million Kelvin, the hydrogen nuclei begin to fuse to produce helium. This is a thermonuclear reaction and a star is born. The star is unstable until the internal pressure equals the outer pressure.

Larger stars burn faster than smaller stars and are very bright. When hydrogen fusion in the star’s center ceases, then helium nuclei begin to fuse. The temperature increases and the star swells in size and becomes a red giant. When helium fusion stops and the internal and external pressures are no longer equal, the outer layers of the red giant are cast off to form a planetary nebula, such as the Crab Nebula in the constellation Taurus. The shrunken remnant is called a white dwarf. Slowly, the white dwarf cools to become a black dwarf. This is the life cycle of stars that are the same size as or smaller than our sun.
This quiz covers the life cycle of stars. Use the above information to assist in answering the questions. Read the description and identify the best answer from the choices.


Group: Physics Physics Quizzes
Topic: Astronomy




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