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This force is balanced by the electron degeneracy pressure keeping the star stable. [4] In metals, the positive nuclei are partly ionized and spaced by normal interatomic distances. Gravity has negligible effect; the positive ion cores are attracted to the negatively charged electron gas. This force is balanced by the electron degeneracy pressure.
While degeneracy pressure usually dominates at extremely high densities, it is the ratio between degenerate pressure and thermal pressure which determines degeneracy. Given a sufficiently drastic increase in temperature (such as during a red giant star's helium flash ), matter can become non-degenerate without reducing its density.
In a star less massive than the limit, the gravitational compression is balanced by short-range repulsive neutron–neutron interactions mediated by the strong force and also by the quantum degeneracy pressure of neutrons, preventing collapse. [12]: 74 If its mass is
An asteroid will temporarily eclipse one of the brightest stars in the sky tonight. Ashley Strickland, CNN. December 11, 2023 at 5:25 PM.
The above processes reduce the core energy and its lepton density. Hence, the electron degeneracy pressure is unable to stabilize the stellar core against the gravitational force, and the star collapses. [15] When the density of the central region of collapse exceeds 10 12 g/cm 3, the diffusion time of neutrinos exceeds the collapse time ...
White dwarfs resist gravitational collapse primarily through electron degeneracy pressure, compared to main sequence stars, which resist collapse through thermal pressure. The Chandrasekhar limit is the mass above which electron degeneracy pressure in the star's core is insufficient to balance the star's own gravitational self-attraction. [6]
In massive stars, the core is already large enough at the onset of the hydrogen burning shell that helium ignition will occur before electron degeneracy pressure has a chance to become prevalent. Thus, when these stars expand and cool, they do not brighten as dramatically as lower-mass stars; however, they were more luminous on the main ...
Some massive stars collapse to form neutron stars at the end of their life cycle, as has been both observed and explained theoretically.Under the extreme temperatures and pressures inside neutron stars, the neutrons are normally kept apart by a degeneracy pressure, stabilizing the star and hindering further gravitational collapse. [2]