Astronomy Discussion

These are discussions post and responses to two classmates. Please make the initial post at least 250 words and the responses to classmates 100 words. Please list all references that you may use.

ASTRONOMY

In this discussion activity, you will use what you have learned through the assigned readings on how stars end their lives as main-sequence stars to investigate nearby stars for candidates for such fiery deaths. Before participating in the discussion:

·Read 23.1-23.2

·View Video: The death of a low-mass star (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. [Video file][2 min 22 sec]

·View Video: The death of a massive star (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. [Video file][4 min 19 sec]

Now let’s begin the discussion:

What kinds of stars would you, as an astronomer sometime in the future, monitor if you wished to observe a supernova explosion from its very beginning?

To help answer this question, consult the lists of the nearest and brightest stars, found in Appendix 4 of your textbook and on this webpage (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site., respectively.

Which, if any, of these stars are possible supernova candidates? Explain. Compare your results with at least two of your classmates. Did the spectral-type of the stars they identified differ from yours? Why?

Remember that there are two types of supernova, Type IA and Type II. Choose one of these types for this activity. What is the difference between the types? What are the conditions necessary for each to happen? The answers to these questions should guide you on your search for candidate stars.

For full credit, you should explore at least one resource besides your textbook. Be sure to cite references used.

Joshua,

As an astronomer I would try and focus my efforts and monitor stars that are in the red super-giant stage of their lives or the white dwarf stage. We would be able to narrow our search by limiting ourselves to monitor spectral the classes D, M, and K and ensure they are in the correct luminosity range to indicate a situation that is ripe for a potential supernova. A current star being observed as supernova candidate, Betelgeuse which sits in the constellation of Orion is already in the M spectral class and is nearing the end of its life. The interesting part of Betelgeuse is its relatively close to our system which would prove to be an awesome sight day and night (Sessions, 2019).

Vincent,

There are two types of supernova which are type IA and II. I believe that the Hadar will become a supernova type II. The major differences between type IA and II is that type II supernova is about 5 times less luminous than type IA (OpenStax, 2016, p. 850). Also type IA supernova “light output initially increases and then slowly decreases over time” (OpenStax, 2016, p. 850). I believe that since the mass of the Hagar is 14.7 as greater than the Sun when the core collapses the fusion process will create an extremely powerful explosion.