“Good evening, students! Today, we are going to be jumping back into the different types of stars. Last week, the stars were fairly interesting, but this week, I saved the cool ones!” she said, tapping the projector so an image appeared at the front of the class. “Before we begin, I want to remind each of you to take notes - you won't be able to retain all of this just by listening. And, some of this material will be on future exams,” Professor Zumwalt noted to her class.
Supergiant Star: a high-mass star that produces much heavier elements in its core as magical essence is produced. Elements up to Iron can form inside these massive stars that can reach beyond 1,000 times larger than our neighboring star, the Sun. They come in various colors which are often linked to their size and the temperature they are burning. Rigel is a blue-white supergiant. Deneb is a white supergiant, Delta Cephei is a yellow supergiant and Betelgeuse is a red supergiant.
Neutron Star: a star about twice as big as the Sun would form a neutron star after exploding as a supernova. They have collapsed so much that their atoms have been crushed, squashing the protons and electrons together until they merge to leave only neutrons. This makes them very dense. If we could transport a teaspoon of material from a neutron star to Earth, it would weigh as much as a mountain. It also makes them spin at high speeds.
Pulsar Star: similar to a neutron star in formation; however they radiate two steady, narrow beams of light in opposite directions. Although the light from the beam is steady, pulsars appear to flicker because they also spin. It's the same reason a lighthouse appears to blink when seen by a sailor on the ocean.
Professor Zumwalt was glad she had split the stars between two lessons. It meant less talking all at once to the students, and today they had more extra time. When the lesson was over, she decided it was best to go up with their telescopes to view some of the stars they had been discussing in class. “Alrighty! With the remainder of the lesson time, please explore the universe with your telescopes finding the different types of stars we have talked about. Dwarfs are going to be the hardest to find unless you find one in a binary system. Also, keep a lookout for some of the magnificent supergiants,” Adorah said to the students. She walked around the tower, asking each student what stars they were finding and giving the names to some in the sky that weren’t labeled on their stars charts. Once the time ran out, she dismissed the class to head back to their dorms.
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For full credit, RP the lesson.
Feel free to tell Professor Zumwalt what stars you are finding. If you have a question, please tag her.
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For full credit, RP the lesson.
Feel free to tell Professor Zumwalt what stars you are finding. If you have a question, please tag her.
