2007-02-21 02:57:58 · 7 answers · asked by nicho1123 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
It depends on the star. The larger it is, the quicker it dies, because the rate of nuclear fusion and eventual collapse are faster.
Stars greater than 1.4 times the size of our sun will collapse into all sorts of other things, and can become neutron stars, brown dwarfs, or black holes.
Our own Sun will eventually become a White Dwarf.
The more mass a star contains, and the more it collapses in on itself (until the density becomes unimaginable) determines the time of its final 'death'. Death here doesn't mean that it ceases to exist, but it does cease to shine in the way we think of it.
Interesting fact: a teaspoon of a neutron star would weigh a billion tons on Earth!
2007-02-21 03:31:59 · answer #1 · answered by kathjarq 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The oldest stars are red M class stars which are much smaller than our sun and burn their nuclear material at a very slow rate. Some have been around since near the beginning of the universe (approx. 15 billion years) and may last for hundreds of billions of years more. Click on the following link and scroll down to "Stage 5: The Mature Star": http://www.milky-way.com/gb/sevol.htm
2007-02-21 04:42:54 · answer #2 · answered by Twizard113 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
M-Type stars can be as little as only 8% of the sun's mass and are very cool as compared to the sun. Therefore, they burn their hydrogen slowly and can live trillions of years, however they also take many millions of years to form. However, the hottest and largest main sequence stars such as the O-Type form very quickly and the largest ones, supposedly around 50 solar masses or 50 times more massive than our sun, will use their hydrogen fuel very quickly and only live for perhaps 2 to 10 million years.
2007-02-21 05:19:57 · answer #3 · answered by tim218_05 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Depends on the star's mass. Massive stars, like blue giants only live for about 50 million years. Low mass stars, like red dwarfs, can live for 10s of billions of years.
2007-02-21 03:31:26 · answer #4 · answered by bldudas 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Depends on the mass...low mass stars virtually don't die, solar mass (ie stars like our sun) live about 10 billion years...massive stars live maybe a couple million years, and super massive stars have a very limited lifetime
2007-02-21 03:12:58 · answer #5 · answered by rman1201 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
about 10 billion years on average.
2007-02-21 08:00:07 · answer #6 · answered by hirim69 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I wish I knew what you were asking; I might be able to answer.
2007-02-21 06:41:47 · answer #7 · answered by wiscman77 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋