High Mass Stars Research Paper

The Life of High Mass Stars High mass stars can be classified as any star that is at least four times the solar mass of our star, the sun. They consist of about three percent of all of the stars in the universe, but there are still billions and billions of them all over the universe. High mass stars, like low mass stars, begin to form from clouds of gas and dust in space. They both begin as a protostar and eventually become dense enough to cause hydrogen fusion within them; placing them both on the main-sequence. The only difference is high mass stars are able to get through this process quicker due to their increased gravity from their higher mass. Once the hydrogen is used up, like low mass stars, high mass stars start to form shells of heavier elements up to carbon. Then unlike low mass stars they are able to form shells of heavier elements like silicon and iron. Once the star has formed iron, it can no longer fuse starting the beginning of the end of the stars life. High mass star’s ultimate fate is to succumb to the pressure from gravity and end its life. The star releases all of its energy in an explosion called a supernova, leaving behind a star of all of the neutrons left packed tightly together in what is called a neutron star. The neutron star will either become too dense collapse
Although there are billions of them out in the universe they only consist of about three percent of the total amount of stars in the universe. High mass stars and low mass stars share a lot of similarities in the beginning of their life including how they are formed. High mass stars go through their life cycle much faster than low mass stars. What ultimately separates the two is the way they end their life cycles. High mass stars often go out with a bang, creating a supernova that could potentially create a black hole. Sometimes instead the explosion will create a neutron