Post #1711448
2026-03-11 21:09 UTC
@sposadelvento @VoiceofDuum The most important determinant of stellar evolution is stellar mass. Massive blue stars run through fusion reactions up to Fe & then explode in supernovae, & the whole process takes just a few million years. Fe is the energy well of the universe. Fusion of lighter elements yields energy, while fission of heavier ones yields energy. Tiny red dwarfs don't reach the He -> C stage, but take hundreds of billions of years to become white dwarfs. 2/3 #astronomicalTruths
Replies (1)
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@TreeStarMan@mastodon.social 2026-03-11 21:32
@sposadelvento @VoiceofDuum The key to these differences is that each successive fusion stage requires greater stellar core compression in order to overcome the natural repulsion between positively charged atomic nuclei of increasing mass & charge. Low mass stars can't generate the required core compressions for higher-level nuclear fusion reactions, & also lower compressions mean lower fusion reaction rates, hence the vastly longer lives of low mass stars. 3/3 #astronomicalTruths