Lecture 16: The Evolution of Low-Mass Stars

What happens to a low-mass star (less than 4 solar masses) when it runs out of core Hydrogen and must leave the Main Sequence. This lecture describes the changes inside a low-mass star after Hydrogen exhaustion through the Red Giant, Horizontal Branch, Asymtotic Giant, and Planetary Nebula phases. In the end, we will see the star's envelope and core go their separate ways, the envelope gently puffed off into space, briefly flowering as a Planetary Nebula, and the Carbon-Oxygen core collapsing into a White Dwarf. Recorded 2006 January 26 in 1008 Evans Laboratory on the Columbus campus of The Ohio State University.