What Makes a Star a Star, and What Happens When it Dies?

Seminar: What Makes a Star a Star, and What Happens When it Dies?
Tuesday, September 17, 2024- 12:30 pm in INN/HSH 173
Peter Williams and Ruben Sandapen
Professors of Physics, Acadia University

Peter will begin the seminar by describing the observational techniques that astronomers have used to gather a large amount of information about stars, despite never having visited one. He will briefly review what we know about stars and give some insight into how we know those things. He will also consider what types of stars are observed to exist and discuss what makes a star a star.

Ruben will then describe what happens to a star when it stops shining. For example, in around 5 billion years, our Sun will stop shining, and it will collapse under its own gravity and will eventually become a white dwarf. No white dwarf can have a mass exceeding 1.4 solar masses. More massive stars end up as neutron stars which typically pulsate like lighthouses in the cosmos. The most massive stars that cannot end their lives as white dwarfs or neutron stars, and they become black holes. What is remarkable is that we can make these far-reaching predictions just using pen and paper (and some physics).

Peter Williams is a Professor of Physics at Acadia. He is perhaps best known for his teaching and has received numerous awards, culminating in the Canadian Association of Physicists Gold Medal for Teaching in 2006. He is also a co-author of an introductory physics textbook. While holding a PhD in theoretical condensed matter physics from McMaster University, Peter has a strong interest in astrophysics. Since 2017, he has devoted himself to further developing Acadia’s telescope facilities and conducting a student-oriented research program into eclipsing binary star systems.

Ruben Sandapen is also Professor of Physics at Acadia. He teaches theory courses like quantum mechanics and relativity. He holds a PhD in theoretical particle physics from the University of Manchester, UK, and is an active researcher in particle theory. He works with physicists in Canada and internationally and has been collaborating with Professor Jeff Forshaw for the past 20 years.

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