Chapter 18 The Bizarre Stellar Graveyard

18.1 White Dwarfs

Our goals for learning What is a white dwarf? What can happen to a white dwarf in a close binary system?

What is a white dwarf?

White Dwarfs
White dwarfs are the remaining cores of dead stars. Electron degeneracy pressure supports them against gravity.

White dwarfs cool off and grow dimmer with time.

Size of a White Dwarf

White dwarfs with same mass as Sun are about same size as Earth. Higher mass white dwarfs are smaller.

The White Dwarf Limit

Quantum mechanics says that electrons must move faster as they are squeezed into a very small space. As a white dwarfs mass approaches 1.4MSun, its electrons must move at nearly the speed of light Because nothing can move faster than light, a white dwarf cannot be more massive than 1.4MSun, the white dwarf limit (or Chandrasekhar limit).

What can happen to a white dwarf in a close binary system?

Star that started with less mass gains mass from its companion.

Eventually the masslosing star will become a white dwarf.

What happens next?

Accretion Disks
Mass falling toward a white dwarf from its close binary companion has some angular momentum.
The matter therefore orbits the white dwarf in an accretion disk.

Accretion Disks
Friction between orbiting rings of matter in the disk transfers angular momentum outward and causes the disk to heat up and glow.

Thought Question
What would gas in disk do if there were no friction? A. It would orbit indefinitely. B. It would eventually fall in. C. It would blow away.

Thought Question
What would gas in disk do if there were no friction? A. It would orbit indefinitely. B. It would eventually fall in. C. It would blow away.

Nova
The temperature of accreted matter eventually becomes hot enough for hydrogen fusion. Fusion begins suddenly and explosively, causing a nova.

Nova
The nova star system temporarily appears much brighter.
The explosion drives accreted matter out into space.

Thought Question
What happens to a white dwarf when it accretes enough matter to reach the 1.4 MSun limit? A. It explodes. B. It collapses into a neutron star. C. It gradually begins fusing carbon in its core.

Thought Question
What happens to a white dwarf when it accretes enough matter to reach the 1.4 MSun limit? A. It explodes. B. It collapses into a neutron star. C. It gradually begins fusing carbon in its core.

Two Types of Supernova

Massive star supernova:
Iron core of massive star reaches white dwarf limit and collapses into a neutron star, causing explosion.

White dwarf supernova:

Carbon fusion suddenly begins as white dwarf in close binary system reaches white dwarf limit, causing total explosion.

One way to tell supernova types apart is with a light curve showing how luminosity changes with time.

Nova or Supernova?
Supernovae are MUCH MUCH more luminous!!! (about 10 thousand times). Nova: H to He fusion of a layer of accreted matter, white dwarf left intact. Supernova: complete explosion of white dwarf, nothing left behind.

Supernova Type: Massive Star or White Dwarf?

Light curves differ. Spectra differ (exploding white dwarfs dont have hydrogen absorption lines).

What have we learned?

What is a white dwarf?
A white dwarf is the inert core of a dead star. Electron degeneracy pressure balances the inward pull of gravity.

What can happen to a white dwarf in a close binary system?

Matter from its close binary companion can fall onto the white dwarf through an accretion disk. Accretion of matter can lead to novae and white dwarf supernovae.

18.2 Neutron Stars

Our goals for learning What is a neutron star? How were neutron stars discovered? What can happen to a neutron star in a close binary system?

What is a neutron star?

A neutron star is the ball of neutrons left behind by a massive-star supernova.

Degeneracy pressure of neutrons supports a neutron star against gravity.

Insert TCP 5e Figure 17.16

Electron degeneracy pressure goes away because electrons combine with protons, making neutrons and neutrinos.
Neutrons collapse to the center, forming a neutron star.

A neutron star is about the same size as a small city.

How were neutron stars discovered?

Discovery of Neutron Stars

Using a radio telescope in 1967, Jocelyn Bell noticed very regular pulses of radio emission coming from a single part of the sky. The pulses were coming from a spinning neutron stara pulsar.

Pulsar at center of Crab Nebula pulses 30 times per second.

X-rays

Visible light

Pulsars
A pulsar is a neutron star that beams radiation along a magnetic axis that is not aligned with the rotation axis.

Pulsars
The radiation beams sweep through space like lighthouse beams as the neutron star rotates.

Why Pulsars Must Be Neutron Stars

Circumference of NS = 2 (radius) ~ 60 km

Spin Rate of Fast Pulsars ~ 1000 cycles per second

Surface Rotation Velocity ~ 60,000 km/s ~ 20% speed of light ~ escape velocity from NS

Anything else would be torn to pieces!

Pulsars spin fast because cores spin speeds up as it collapses into neutron star.

Conservation of angular momentum

Thought Question
Could there be neutron stars that appear as pulsars to other civilizations but not to us?
A. Yes B. No

Thought Question
Could there be neutron stars that appear as pulsars to other civilizations but not to us?
A. Yes B. No

What can happen to a neutron star in a close binary system?

Matter falling toward a neutron star forms an accretion disk, just as in a white-dwarf binary.

Accreting matter adds angular momentum to a neutron star, increasing its spin.

Thought Question
According to conservation of angular momentum, what would happen if a star orbiting in a direction opposite the neutrons star rotation fell onto a neutron star? A. The neutron stars rotation would speed up. B. The neutron stars rotation would slow down. C. Nothing, the directions would cancel each other out.

Thought Question
According to conservation of angular momentum, what would happen if a star orbiting in a direction opposite the neutrons star rotation fell onto a neutron star? A. The neutron stars rotation would speed up. B. The neutron stars rotation would slow down. C. Nothing, the directions would cancel each other out.

X-Ray Bursts
Matter accreting onto a neutron star can eventually become hot enough for helium fusion.
The sudden onset of fusion produces a burst of X-rays.

What have we learned?

What is a neutron star?
A ball of neutrons left over from a massive star supernova and supported by neutron degeneracy pressure .

How were neutron stars discovered?

Beams of radiation from a rotating neutron star sweep through space like lighthouse beams, making them appear to pulse. Observations of these pulses were the first evidence for neutron stars.

What have we learned?

What can happen to a neutron star in a close binary system?
The accretion disk around a neutron star gets hot enough to produce X-rays, making the system an X-ray binary. Sudden fusion events periodically occur on a the surface of an accreting neutron star, producing X-ray bursts.

18.3 Black Holes: Gravitys Ultimate Victory

Our goals for learning What is a black hole? What would it be like to visit a black hole? Do black holes really exist?

What is a black hole?

A black hole is an object whose gravity is so powerful that not even light can escape it.

Thought Question
What happens to the escape velocity from an object if you shrink it? A. It increases B. It decreases C. It stays the same

Thought Question
What happens to the escape velocity from an object if you shrink it? A. It increases B. It decreases C. It stays the same Hint:

Thought Question
What happens to the escape velocity from an object if you shrink it? A. It increases B. It decreases C. It stays the same Hint:

Escape Velocity
Initial Kinetic Energy (escape velocity)2 2 = Final Gravitational Potential Energy G x (mass) (radius)

Light would not be able to escape Earths surface if you could shrink it to < 1 cm.

Surface of a Black Hole

The surface of a black hole is the radius at which the escape velocity equals the speed of light. This spherical surface is known as the event horizon. The radius of the event horizon is known as the Schwarzschild radius.

The event horizon of a 3 MSun black hole is also about as big as a small city.

Event horizon is larger for black holes of larger mass.

A black holes mass strongly warps space and time in vicinity of event horizon.

No Escape
Nothing can escape from within the event horizon because nothing can go faster than light. No escape means there is no more contact with something that falls in. It increases the hole mass, changes the spin or charge, but otherwise loses its identity.

Neutron Star Limit

Quantum mechanics says that neutrons in the same place cannot be in the same state. Neutron degeneracy pressure can no longer support a neutron star against gravity if its mass exceeds about 3 Msun. Some massive star supernovae can make a black hole if enough mass falls onto core.

Singularity
Beyond the neutron star limit, no known force can resist the crush of gravity. As far as we know, gravity crushes all the matter into a single point known as a singularity.

Thought Question
How does the radius of the event horizon change when you add mass to a black hole? A. Increases B. Decreases C. Stays the same

Thought Question
How does the radius of the event horizon change when you add mass to a black hole? A. Increases B. Decreases C. Stays the same

What would it be like to visit a black hole?

If the Sun shrank into a black hole, its gravity would be different only near the event horizon.

Light waves take extra time to climb out of a deep hole in spacetime, leading to a gravitational redshift.

Time passes more slowly near the event horizon.

Thought Question
Is it easy or hard to fall into a black hole? A. Easy B. Hard

Thought Question
Is it easy or hard to fall into a black hole? A. Easy B. Hard

Hint: A black hole with the same mass as the Sun wouldnt be much bigger than a college campus

Thought Question
Is it easy or hard to fall into a black hole? A. Easy B. Hard

Hint: A black hole with the same mass as the Sun wouldnt be much bigger than a college campus.

Tidal forces near the event horizon of a 3 MSun black hole would be lethal to humans.

Tidal forces would be gentler near a supermassive black hole because its radius is much bigger .

Do black holes really exist?

Black Hole Verification

Need to measure mass: Use orbital properties of companion. Measure velocity and distance of orbiting gas. Its a black hole if its not a star and its mass exceeds the neutron star limit (~3 MSun).

Some X-ray binaries contain compact objects of mass exceeding 3 MSun which are likely to be black holes.

One famous X-ray binary with a likely black hole is in the constellation Cygnus.

What have we learned?

What is a black hole?
A black hole is a massive object whose radius is so small that the escape velocity exceeds the speed of light.

What would it be like to visit a black hole?

You can orbit a black hole like any other object of the same mass. Near the event horizon time slows down and tidal forces are very strong.

What have we learned?

Do black holes really exist?
Some X-ray binaries contain compact objects too massive to be neutron stars they are almost certainly black holes.

18.4 The Origin of Gamma Ray Bursts

Our goals for learning Where do gamma-ray bursts come from? What causes gamma-ray bursts?

Where do gamma-ray bursts come from?

Gamma-Ray Bursts
Brief bursts of gamma rays coming from space were first detected in the 1960s.

Observations in the 1990s showed that many gammaray bursts were coming from very distant galaxies. They must be among the most powerful explosions in the universecould be the formation of a black hole.

What causes gamma-ray bursts?

Supernovae and Gamma-Ray Bursts

Observations show that at least some gamma-ray bursts are produced by supernova explosions.
Some others may come from collisions between neutron stars.

What have we learned?

Where do gamma-ray bursts come from?
Most gamma-ray bursts come from distant galaxies. They must be among the most powerful explosions in the universe, probably signifying the formation of black holes .

What causes gamma-ray bursts?

At least some gamma-ray bursts come from supernova explosions.