Lecture 33: The Deaths of Stars

What happens to a star when it runs out of hydrogen in its core? This

lecture describes the post main-sequence evolution of stars. What

happens depends on the star's mass. Low mass stars swell up into Red

Giants, and eventually shed their envelopes and end their lives as white

dwarf stars. High mass stars become Red Supergiants, and if large

enough, end their lives in a spectacular supernova explosion that leaves

behind a neutron star or black hole. The explosion itself creates

massive quantities of heavy elements, which then seed interstellar space

with metals to be incorporated into subsequent generations of stars.

Recorded live on 2009 Nov 12 in Room 1005 Smith Laboratory on the

Columbus campus of The Ohio State University.