Speaker Name:
Dr Albert Zijlstra
Speaker Affiliation:
University of Manchester
Talk Subject:
Late stages of stellar evolution.
Date:
10/19/2006 - 14:00
Stars similar to the Sun end their lives in spectacular fashion. They first become red giants, before entering a phase of strong pulsations: the so-called Mira phase. The pulsations cause much of the mass of star to be ejected into space, leaving behind an inert, carbon core which later becomes a white dwarf. The physics behind this 'superwind' is not well understood. I will present aspects of the evolution of the star and the ejected planetary nebula.