Stellar Structure

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图注： Stars are balls of plasma. For most of a star’s life it burns hydrogen into helium in its core. This phase of a star’s life is known as the main sequence. Burning hydrogen into helium produces heat, that heat travels out of the star’s core eventually reaching the star’s photosphere (often referred to as the “surface” of the star). From here the heat can radiate into space as various forms of electromagnetic radiation. However, how heat travels from the core to the photosphere depends on the star’s mass. Imagine a parcel of gas rising inside a star. As it rises, it moves into an area of lower pressure, so it cools down and expands. If the parcel is still hotter, and therefore less dense than its surroundings, it keeps moving upward due to buoyancy. Eventually, it will rise far enough to cool and sink back down. This rising and sinking cycle is called convection. Whether convection occurs depends on how quickly temperature changes as you move away from the star’s core. If the temperature in a star drops rapidly, rising parcels of gas are more likely to stay hotter than their surroundings, so convection dominates as the mode of energy transfer in this part of the star. Conversely if the temperature drops more slowly (i.e. if the temperature gradient is small) then heat will mostly be transferred by radiation (photons). In the most massive main sequence stars (more massive than about 1.5 times the mass of the Sun, seen here on the left), hydrogen is burned into helium using the CNO cycle. This is highly temperature dependent and thus energy production is concentrated near the center of the star. This leads to a larger temperature gradient and thus a convective core. Further out the temperature gradient becomes smaller and heat transport is dominated by radiation. This is called the radiative zone. For lower mass stars like the Sun (between 0.3 and 1.5 solar masses, seen here in the middle) hydrogen is burned to helium using a different process (the pp chain). This depends less on the internal temperature than the CNO cycle and so energy production is more distributed in the star’s core. This leads to a smaller temperature gradient and thus a radiative core where convection occurs surrounded by a radiative zone. Going further out the gas becomes cool enough for some elements to hang to on some of their electrons, i.e. not being completely ionised. This partially ionised gas is more opaque to photons, trapping heat. This leads to a large temperature gradient and thus convection. The lowest mass stars (below 0.3 solar masses, seen here on the right) have no radiative zone and are fully convective. The arrows in the radiative zone are shown as wavy lines heading out of the star. However, a photon’s journey out of a star is much more complex with each individual photon travelling only a short distance before being deflected by some of the charged particles that make up the plasma of the star’s interior. This leads to a long and winding road that takes millennia instead of the few seconds it would take if the photon did not interact with particles in the plasma.
来源： Based on a vector diagram by Wikimedia user Д.Ильин which itself is based on a diagram from sun.org
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词汇表: 电磁辐射 , 氢聚变 , 光球 , 辐射区 , 恒星结构 , 对流区 , 恒星核心
分类： 恒星

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Stellar Evolution

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图注： This diagram shows the life cycle of stars of different masses. The mass of the different types of star increases from bottom to top with time going from left to right. The life cycle of a star depends on its mass, with lower mass stars have longer lifetimes. All stars form from clouds of gas that collapse under their own gravity. As the star collapses, its core becomes hotter and denser. If the star has a mass greater than 0.08 solar masses (0.08 times the mass of the Sun), the pressure of the star’s mass pushing down on its core creates a high enough core temperature for hydrogen fusion to ignite. This burns hydrogen into helium in the star’s core, providing a heat source to power the star and to stop its core from collapsing further. If the collapsing object has a mass below 0.08 solar masses then it does not ignite hydrogen fusion in its core. It continues to cool and slowly contract. Such substellar objects are known as brown dwarfs, shown here in the lowest row. After stars have formed, they burn hydrogen in their cores and begin their so-called main sequence phase. The most massive stars (>25 solar masses, shown here at the top) have very high core temperatures and thus burn through their hydrogen fuel more quickly. This means they may only spend a few million years on the main sequence burning hydrogen in their cores. Once the hydrogen in the core is exhausted the star’s core contracts, becomes hotter and helium burning starts in the core. While the core contracts, the outer layers of the star expand and it becomes a supergiant. For the most massive stars strong stellar winds strip off the cooler outer layers, leading to the star being very large and very hot, a blue supergiant. Once helium is exhausted in the core, carbon is burned, and then heavier elements. Eventually the star ends with an iron core. Fusing iron into heavier elements does not generate energy so at this point fusion stops in the core. Once this core of iron is massive enough, it and the surrounding matter suddenly collapses to form a black hole and the outer layers are flung off in a supernova explosion. Slightly lower mass stars (between 8 and 25 solar masses, seen here second top) evolve in a similar way although they do not have strong enough winds to push their outer layers away and become blue supergiants, instead it evolves into a red supergiant. While such stars also collapse and create supernova explosions. The remnant of the star’s core is not massive enough to collapse into a black hole. Instead, its electrons and protons combine to form neutrons and it is supported by a quantum mechanical effect called neutron degeneracy pressure. This results in the remnant of the star being a tiny neutron star, several solar masses in mass but only a few kilometres across. For stars similar in mass to the Sun (between 0.4 and 8 solar masses, seen here in the middle row), the star burns hydrogen in its core until the hydrogen in its core is exhausted. At this point a hydrogen burning shell forms around the core. Eventually the core will become hot enough to burn helium into carbon and oxygen. After this the star is left with a carbon and oxygen core surrounded by shells burning helium and hydrogen. These shells are unstable producing thermal pulsations that convulse the star. Eventually these pulsations become so extreme that the star’s outer layers are thrown off. This leaves the carbon and oxygen core as a white dwarf supported by electron degeneracy pressure. The outer layers of the star form what is known as a planetary nebula (which doesn’t actually have anything to do with planets despite the name). The lowest mass stars (seen here in the second bottom row) are so low in mass that their evolutionary timescales are much longer than the age of the universe. This means that none have evolved beyond the main-sequence. Low mass stars are fully convective meaning material in the core is constantly being mixed with material above. This means that all the hydrogen in the star would eventually be burned in the core, but this will take trillions of years.
来源： Danielle Futselaar/IAU OAE

词汇表: 黑洞 , 氢聚变 , 中子星 , 恒星形成 , 恒星演化 , 恒星残骸 , 超巨星 , 超新星 , 白矮星

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Astronomical Unit

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图注： An astronomical unit (AU) is a convenient unit of distance equal to exactly 149,597,870.7 kilometers (km). This is approximately the average distance between the Earth and the Sun, which was a previous definition of the AU. The AU is often used to measure distances in the Solar System and in other planetary or stellar systems.
来源： Danielle Futselaar/IAU OAE

词汇表: 天文单位
分类： 太阳系

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Seasons

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图注： This diagram shows the Earth at the June solstice which is known as the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere and the winter solstice in the Southern Hemisphere. The Earth’s axis of rotation is tilted from the axis of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun by 23.4°. Here we see light from the sun represented as parallel lines, in the diagram the Sun would lie far off the right-hand edge. Five lines are marked with angles. These lines hit the Earth at special latitudes. From top to bottom these lines hit the Earth at the North Pole, the Tropic of Cancer, the Equator, the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle. The lines are shown hitting the Earth at the longitude where it is currently noon. For the last four lines, the angles marked show the angle above the horizon (the altitude) which the Sun appears in the sky at at local noon. At the June solstice, the Sun will appear directly overhead at local noon on every point on the Tropic of Capricorn. By contrast the Sun reaches a maximum altitude of 0° at local noon on every point in the Antarctic Circle. This means the Sun never rises and every point south of the Antarctic Circle experiences a long Polar Night. By contrast the Sun never sets on this day north of the Arctic Circle and the regions here experience a Polar Day. The at the North Pole the Sun will remain at a constant altitude all day. This altitude will be the angle 180°-156.6° (23.4°). The altitude the Sun appears at is important as it defines how spread out the Sun’s rays are on the Earth’s surface. Look at the thick, faint parallel lines in the background. Notice how at the Tropic of Cancer the area the lines intersect with the Earth’s surface perpendicularly and the line only covers a small part of the Earth’s surface. Now look at a line near the Tropic of Capricorn and see that this intersects with the Earth at a grazing angle and the line is spread out, covering a much wider area of the Earth’s surface. This means that a given amount of light from the Sun that hits the Tropic of Cancer is more concentrated and the same amount of light hitting the Tropic of Capricorn would be more spread out. This leads to more energy per unit area from the Sun hitting the Tropic of Cancer and less energy per unit area hitting the Tropic of Capricorn. This means it will be warmer at the Tropic of Cancer than at the Tropic of Capricorn. It is thus summer at the Tropic of Cancer and winter at the Tropic of Capricorn. Six months later this situation will be reversed and it will be summer at the Tropic of Capricorn and winter at the Tropic of Cancer.
来源： Maria Cristina Fortuna/IAU OAE

词汇表: 赤道 , 二至点 , 夏至 , 冬季 , 冬至 , 北极圈 , 南极圈 , 北回归线 , 南回归线 , 北极

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Solstices and Equinoxes

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图注： This diagram demonstrates the relative positions of the Earth and Sun at the two solstices and two equinoxes. The Earth’s rotation axis is tilted by 23.4° from the axis of its orbit. This means that for half the Earth’s annual orbit around the Sun, the Southern Hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun and the Northern Hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun. During this time the Sun appears to lie below the celestial equator. Due to this at any particular point in the Southern Hemisphere the Sun will appear to be higher above the horizon at a particular time of day and the days will be longer. Conversely during this time, the Sun appears lower in the sky at any particular point in the day in the Northern Hemisphere and the days are shorter. This effect is most pronounced in late December when the Sun appears at its most southerly point in the sky, corresponding to the longest day of the year in the Southern Hemisphere. This normally occurs on the 21st or 22nd of December (UTC), depending on when the most recent leap year was, but can very occasionally occur on the 20th or 23rd of December. This event is known as the December solstice. As the Sun’s rays hit the Southern Hemisphere at a more perpendicular angle during this time, the Southern Hemisphere is typically warmer in this time of year than at other times of year. This is often referred to as summer in temperate and antarctic regions of the Southern Hemisphere and thus the December solstice is known as the summer solstice. South of the Antarctic Circle at this time the Sun never sets and a Polar Day can last several months. Conversely in the Northern Hemisphere, the Sun’s rays hit the Earth at a more grazing angle than at other times of year so it is colder and this solstice is known as the winter solstice. North of the Arctic Circle the Sun never rises during this time and the Polar Night can last several months. As the year progresses the Earth moves in its orbit and the tilt of the Earth’s axis moves so it appears more side-on to the Sun. From the perspective of an observer on Earth this means that the Sun moves north in the sky, eventually reaching the celestial equator in late March, This usually occurs on the 20th of March (UTC) but can sometimes occur on the 19th or 21st of March. During this time all places on Earth will experience night and day that is approximately 12 hours long. The Sun’s rays now hit the Southern hemisphere at a more shallow angle than they did in December and hit the Northern Hemisphere at a more perpendicular angle. This means that the Northen Hemisphere will have warmed since December and the Southern Hemisphere cooled. This leads to the March equinox being referred to as the autumn equinox in the Southern Hemisphere and the spring or vernal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere. As the year progresses further the Sun moves further north on the sky, the Northern Hemisphere days lengthen and the Southern Hemisphere days shorten. By June the Earth’s orbit has progressed to the point where the Northern Hemisphere points towards the Sun and the Southern Hemisphere away from the Sun. At one point between the 20th and 22nd of June (UTC) the Sun reaches its most northerly point in the sky, this is known as June solstice. It is now summer in northern temperate and artic regions so this is known as the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere and the winter solstice in the Southern Hemisphere. This is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the shortest day of the year in the Southern Hemisphere. During this time regions north of the Arctic Circle experience a long Polar Day and regions south of the Antarctic Circle experience polar night. The year progresses further and the Earth moves in its orbit so that the tilt of the Earth’s axis again appears side-on for the Sun. The Sun moves south in the sky and again crosses the celestial equator between the 21st and 24th of September (UTC). At this time all places on the Earth experience equal lengths of day and night. This is known as the September equinox, also called the spring or vernal equinox in the Southern Hemisphere and the autumn equinox in the Northern Hemisphere. Note the sizes of the Earth, Sun and the Earth’s orbit around the Sun are not to scale in this diagram.
来源： Maria Cristina Fortuna/IAU OAE

词汇表: 昼夜平分点 , 天赤道 , 季节 , 二至点 , 夏至 , 冬至 , 春分 , 秋分 , 地轴 , 北极圈 , 南极圈 , 极昼 , 极夜
分类： 肉眼天文学

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