Astronomy Cast - Ep. 109: The Life of Other Stars

Ep. 109: The Life of Other Stars

Last week we looked at the complete life of the Sun, birth to death. But stars can be smaller, and stars can get much much larger. And with a change in mass, their lives change too. Let's start the clock again, and see what happens to the smallest stars in the Universe; and what happens to the largest.

Ep. 109: The Life of Other Stars
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Ep. 75: Stellar Populations

$The stars being born today aren\'t the same as stars born shortly after the big bang.$
After the big bang, all we had was hydrogen, a little bit of helium, and a few other trace elements. Today, we've a whole periodic table of elements to enjoy, from oxygen we breathe to the aluminium cans we drink from to the uranium that powers some people's homes. How did we get from plain old hydrogen to our current diversity? It came from stars, in fact successive generations of stars.

Episode 75: Stellar Populations (14.4MB)
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Ep. 46: Stellar Nurseries

We've discussed star formation in the past, but now we wanted to talk about the different kinds of stellar nurseries we see across the Universe. We know where our Sun came from because we can look out and see different stellar neighborhoods at every stage of development. It takes a village of gas and dust to raise a star.

Episode 46: Stellar Nurseries (13.1MB)

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Ep. 36: Gamma-Ray Bursts

$An artist\'s impression of merging neutron stars, one of the theoretical progenitors of gamma-ray bursts.$
Gamma ray bursts are the most powerful explosions in the Universe, releasing more energy in a few seconds than our Sun will put out in its lifetime. It's only been in the last few years that astronomers are finally starting to unravel the cataclysmic events that cause these energetic explosions.

Episode 36: Gamma-Ray Bursts (14MB)

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Ep. 22: Variable Stars

Our Sun has been around for billions of years, and will last for billions more. We're lucky, it's pretty stable and regular as stars go, only changing in brightness a little now and then. But there are stars out there that change dramatically; astronomers call them variable stars, and they demonstrate just how bizarre and dangerous the Universe can be.

Episode 22: Variable Stars (28 MB)
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Ep. 14: We're all Made of Supernovae

No more suspense. This week we blow the biggest stars up. Kaboom. Want more details? Then you've got to listen.

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Ep. 13: Where Do Stars Go When They Die?

We've celebrated the birth of new stars, but the stellar lifecycle doesn't end there. Stars like our Sun will spend billions of years fusing together hydrogen and pumping out energy. And when the fuel runs out, their death is as interesting as their birth. This week Fraser and Pamela trace out this stellar evolution, and explain what the future holds for stars, large and small.

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Ep. 12: Where Do Baby Stars Come From?

Most parents have had that uncomfortable conversation with their children at some point. Mommy, Daddy, where do stars come from? You hem and haw, mumble a few words about angular momentum and primordial hydrogen and then cleverly change the subject. Well, you don't have to
avoid the subject any longer. Pamela and Fraser describe formation of stars, large and small, in a tasteful manner, using only understandable and scientific language.

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Ep. 109: The Life of Other Stars

Ep. 75: Stellar Populations

Ep. 46: Stellar Nurseries

Ep. 36: Gamma-Ray Bursts

Ep. 22: Variable Stars

Ep. 14: We're all Made of Supernovae

Ep. 13: Where Do Stars Go When They Die?

Ep. 12: Where Do Baby Stars Come From?