P3-Lifecycle of a Star

If the star is less than 3 times the mass of our sun, its lifecycle is as follows:

• Clouds of gas and dust swirl in together due to gravitational attraction, formining a protostar.
• Fusion of hydrogen atoms into helium creates large amounts of energy, given off as heat and light, this is a main sequence star.
• When all the hydrogen has run out, helium begins to be fused, forming heavier elements such as oxygen, carbon, neon. 
• Eventually, the outwards radiation pressure is larger than inwards pull of gravity and the star swells into a red giant.
• Over time the red giant will collapse into a white dwarf, and then finally a black dwarf

Protostar->Main Sequence Star->Red Giant ->White Dwarf->Black Dwarf

If the star is greater than 3 times the mass of our sun, its lifecycle is as follows:

• Clouds of gas and dust swirl in together due to gravitational attraction, formining a protostar.
• Fusion of hydrogen atoms into helium creates large amounts of energy, given off as heat and light, this is a main sequence star.
• When all the hydrogen has run out, helium begins to be fused, forming heavier elements such as oxygen, carbon, neon. 
• When all the elements have fused together, the star explodes, know as a supernova many heavy elements are created due to the intense heat.
• After a supernova, a very dense core remains, which is called a neutron starOR if the star was big enough, a Black Hole.

Protostar->Main Sequence Star->Red Giant ->Supernova->Neutron star/black hole