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Chapter 18: Problem 14

What is an evolutionary track? How can evolutionary tracks help us interpret the H-R diagram?

Short Answer

Expert verified
An evolutionary track is the path that a star traces on the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram during its life. It helps us understand the various stages of a star's life, from formation to death, and interpret star's current stage, age, the conditions within the star, and its future evolution.

Step by step solution

01

Define Evolutionary Track

An evolutionary track refers to the path that a star follows on the Hertzsprung-Russell (H-R) diagram during its lifetime. This path is a theoretical line that represents the various stages of a star's life, from its formation to its eventual death.
02

Discuss the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram

The Hertzsprung–Russell (H-R) diagram is a scatter plot displaying stars, with the horizontal axis representing stellar surface temperature or spectral type, and the vertical axis representing luminosity or absolute magnitude. Stars in different stages of their life are distributed in distinct regions of the H-R diagram. Main sequence stars, giants, supergiants, and white dwarfs all have their unique positions.
03

Explaining the Role of Evolutionary Tracks

Evolutionary tracks play a crucial role in helping us interpret the H-R diagram. They provide a way to 'track' the progress of a star from one stage to another and understand the physical changes that the star undergoes in each stage. By examining the shape and direction of these tracks, we can infer information about the star's age, its frequency of nuclear reactions, its current stage of key nuclear reactions, and its likely future progress. For instance, a star moving away from the main sequence towards the red giant region of the H-R diagram is interpreted as a star that has depleted its core hydrogen and is in a late stage of its life.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

Use the Starry Night Enthusiast \({ }^{\mathrm{TM}}\) program to examine the Milky Way Galaxy. Open the Favourites pane and click on Stars \(>\) Sun in Milky Way to display our Galaxy from a position \(0.150\) million light-years above the galactic plane. (You can remove the astronaut's feet from this view if desired by clicking on View \(>\) Feet.) You can zoom in or out on the Galaxy using the + and - buttons at the upper right end of the toolbar. You can move the Galaxy by holding down the mouse button while moving the mouse. You can also rotate the Galaxy by putting the mouse cursor over the image and holding down the Shift key while holding down the mouse button and moving the mouse. (a) You can identify H II regions by their characteristic magenta color. Describe where in the Galaxy you find these. Are most found in the inner part of the Galaxy or in its outer regions? (b) Where do you find dark lanes of dustin the inner part of the Galaxy or in its outer regions? Do you see any connection between the locations of dust and of H II regions? If there is a connection, what do you think causes it? If there is not a connection, why is this the case? You can examine the location of Galaxy in relation to neighboring galaxies by turning the Milky Way edge-on and by increasing the distance from the Earth using the up key below the Viewing Location on the toolbar.

In the direction of a particular star cluster, interstellar extinction allows only \(15 \%\) of a star's light to pass through each kiloparsec \((1000 \mathrm{pc})\) of the interstellar medium. If the star cluster is \(3.0\) kiloparsecs away, what percentage of its photons survive the trip to the Earth?

Use the Starry Night Enthusiast \({ }^{\mathrm{TM}}\) program to investigate a star-forming region. Use the Find ... command in the Edit menu to find and center on M20 (the Trifid Nebula, shown in the figure that accompanies Question 31) as seen from your location. Zoom out as far as possible using the Zoom controls at the righthand end of the toolbar. Set the Time appropriately and adjust the Month and Day in the Date to answer the following questions. (Hint: You may want to remove daylight and display the local meridian to provide precise answers.) (a) On what day is M20 highest in the sky at noon? Explain how you determined this. (b) On what day is M20 highest in the sky at midnight, so that it is best placed for observing with a telescope? Explain how you determined this.

The interior of a dark nebula is billions of times less dense than the air that you breathe. How, then, are dark nebulae able to block out starlight?

Compare and contrast Barnard objects and Bok globules. How many Sun-sized stars could you make out of a Barnard object? Out of a Bok globule?
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