What is the upper limit for massive stars? Hypernovae - TopicsExpress



          

What is the upper limit for massive stars? Hypernovae (super-supernovae) are the result of the explosion of a star thats about as massive as a star can be (about 150-200 solar masses). But how exactly do we know that this is an upper limit? The first clue comes from a derivation by Arthur Eddington. In 1916, Eddington demonstrated that there was a limit to how bright a stable star could be. The basic idea is that the atmosphere of a star is being gravitationally attracted by the mass of the star (giving it weight), and this weight is balanced by the pressure of the deeper layer of the star. For a star to be stable, the weight and pressure must be equal, so the star doesnt collapse inward or push the atmosphere outward...Learn more at: phys.org/news/2014-10-upper-limit-massive-stars.html Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 21:30:01 +0000

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