On Stars, Their Evolution and Their Stability
Abstract
The present investigation represents an attempt to show that, in a limited sense, the basic facts concerning stars can be understood as simply as atoms, taking into account an understanding of atoms in terms of two combinations of natural constants. It is pointed out that the most important fact concerning a star is its mass, which is measured in units of the mass of the sun. The current theories of stellar structure and stellar evolution derive their successes largely from the fact that a certain combination of the dimensions of a mass provides a correct measure of stellar masses. Attention is given to the role of radiation pressure, the degeneracy of the electrons in white-dwarf stars, the theory of the white-dwarf stars and the limiting mass, the conditions under which normal stars develop degenerate cores, the evolution of massive stars and the onset of gravitational collapse, and the mathematical theory of black holes.
- Publication:
-
Science
- Pub Date:
- November 1984
- DOI:
- 10.1126/science.226.4674.497
- Bibcode:
- 1984Sci...226..497C
- Keywords:
-
- Stellar Evolution;
- Stellar Models;
- Stellar Structure;
- Black Holes (Astronomy);
- Gravitational Collapse;
- Radiation Pressure;
- Stability;
- Stellar Cores;
- Stellar Mass;
- White Dwarf Stars;
- Astrophysics