Theory of the Stars*

By: Tsegazeab Beteselassie

The Sun: This is what the sun looks like (with glare protection,
probably).

     Most people know that the sun was born 4.57 billion years ago. But what I was thinking was, about an important property of light, that actually might make the birth of the sun a few million years back. But before I explain my theory, I have to explain how the sun was born.

 

     When a star dies, usually what happens is that stars start to shed it's outer layers. For many years, scientists didn't know why. Then, a person named Emanuel Swedenborg first proposed a theory that stars were formed by nebula's in space. You probably want to know what a nebula is. Well, it's when a large mass of atoms form a cloud in interstellar space. One of the most distinguishing facts about nebula's is that they are created by the death throes of a dying star.

 

    When a star starts dying, it means that the core of the star has started to make iron. But how does a flaming mass of hydrogen create an element like iron? Well, here's how.

First, when the star is born, it immediately starts fusing together hydrogen to make helium. The reason it does this immediately is sort of part of my theory. When the star gives out light, it means that it is fusing hydrogen together to make helium. But we don't know it's ready until it gives out light, don't we? Well, anyways, the heat forces repelling hydrogen atoms to fuse to helium. Helium's mass is less that it should be because some of the mass is converted into energy, some of it as, light, the rest, heat. This small observation is crucial to why a star dies at a certain element. Anyways, this process isn't supposed to get past helium, because we still have enough hydrogen. But what happens when we run out?

 

     Well, when a star runs out of hydrogen, that is a bad sign for any life on it's planets (if it has any). But when a solitary star does this, it means it is the beginning of it's death throes. How can we tell? Almost as if it is in a state of shock, it sort of loses control of where it's outer layers go. The outer layers of the star will drift away from the star. So it gets bigger. And when things with a roughly level temperature gets bigger, it gets cooler. Our dying star will turn into a red giant. But the star quickly recovers from it's state of shock, and even though it is a red giant, it still continues fusing, except it is fusing helium into lithium. This continues for a few million years. Then, it runs out of helium. It starts fusing lithium, in a futile  attempt at salvation. But it still fuses lithium into the next element, getting ever bigger, until it reaches the bane of the stars.

Imploding Star: A star is imploding on itself.
Cool, huh?

Iron.

 

     This the reason stars, die, no matter how big they are. (even if the star made it past iron, it would die eventually when it reaches the last stable element, lead.) You know that little observation I make earlier, about some of the mass turning into energy, (think Einstein). Well, even though it still works on iron, the star still dies. Because of a small problem. Iron absorbs the energy inside the star. So if anything touches a grain of iron, the energy is absorbed. Light and therefore heat, stop working inside the star. And now, here is the big problem.

 

     By the way, did I mention that there is a war going inside our star?

 

     This "war" inside our star is actually a battle between two forces of nature. The gravity of the star's own mass, is threatening to crush our star into a cramped ball of energy that will probably squeeze the life right out of it (painful). But an opposite force, the heat and pressure from the energy the star produces, wants to blow our star to smithereens (more painful). The star is in a balance between the two opposing forces. Therefore, it exists. But when the light and heat is partially absorbed by iron, the pressure and heat falter. Then, the death of a star begins.

 

     Gravity takes advantage of this, and finally gets to crush the star. But now, there are two possible

Nebula: This is a really awesome looking nebula.

futures for the star (don't get your hopes up, they're both painful). If the star was large enough, instead of shedding it's outer layers, while being squeezed into a white dwarf, which will eventually turn into a black dwarf, (sort of like a nice long retirement), it chooses a much more pleasing option for anyone who is watching this spectacle and is wearing a protection suit that will protect them from the heat and radiation. It still gets squeezed, but it happens so fast, that the star rebounds on itself, and blows up, in what we call, a supernova.

 

     If you're still alive, you will be able to see that what is left is a neutron star. However, if you see nothing, even though the star was big enough, then you are seeing (or not seeing) a black hole. And this is one of the most powerful gravitational object in the universe. If you get too close, then you get sucked into it, and crushed into obviation. No escape. Dead. But I digress. This black hole forms if, and only if the star is really really, really, really, really, really, really big. The explosion is called a hypernova (Are you seeing the pattern; nova, supernova, hypernova. I wonder what's next.). Really powerful, really dangerous. Anyways, all three of these options will create a cloud the size of our solar system. (Actually, the black hole might suck up the cloud.) Also called a nebula. The ashes of a dying star. It is this nebula that creates stars. How? I'm not going to go in a long discussion about this, but in layman's terms, it just slowly uses the atoms' gravity in order to slowly come together, gain heat and density, and eventually form a new star. And now back to our main point, my theory.

 

     Remember what I said at the first paragraph? I was thinking about a property of light? Well, here it is. Prepare to not be amazed.

 

     Light has a speed.

Well, what do you think? Told you that you wouldn't be impressed. Everyone knows that light has a speed. But actually, this small fact is crucial to my theory. Light in the sun bounces around for millions of years before coming out. Reason? The star is so dense that it doesn't have enough room to get out. So as I said a while before how can we know when the star is born if the light doesn't reach us for millions of years. (I'm hoping to win a Nobel Prize for this). So we may actually have to push the sun's birthday back a few million years. I hope the sun doesn't mind.

Well anyways, this is my theory.

My Theory of the Stars.

 

*All credit for the original theory goes to Emanuel Swedenborg and anyone else that contributed to the original theory.

 

Email me at tsegazeab12@gmail.com or tsegazeab12@outlook.com.

Thank you.