Confirmation of Stellar Evolution Models

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Even the short-lived massive stars last longer than the entire span of human history, so how can astronomers test the predictions of their stellar evolution models? In science the sole judge of scientific truth is experiments or observation. Regardless of how nice or beautiful a scientific theory may appear, if it does not make accurate testable predictions, it is invalid. When color-magnitude (H-R) diagrams for star clusters are constructed, there is a convincing confirmation of our stellar evolution models.

What is nice about clusters is that differences in the stars can be explained in terms of only one variable: mass. Stars in a cluster all form at about the same time, so age differences is not a factor in our analysis. The stars form from the same gas cloud, so their chemical composition is the same and all of them are at about the same distance from us, so any differences in apparent brightness are due to luminosity differences. More luminous main sequence stars are more massive than dimmer main sequence stars.

Comparison of the theories with reality is easy since you need to only consider how mass affects the cluster stars' evolution. The predictions from the stellar evolution models as to what the characteristics of the stars in different clusters should be are compared with reality. Star formation and stellar evolution models are confirmed by observations of real clusters. By observing clusters of different ages, you can piece together how a star will form, live, and die.

young cluster history

old cluster history

Finding the Ages of Clusters

Cluster color-magnitude diagrams change with age. More massive stars evolve quicker than low-mass stars. The hot, luminous main sequence stars will die before the cool, dim main sequence stars. This means that an old cluster will have only the low-mass stars still on the main sequence, but a young cluster will have both high and low-mass stars on the main sequence.

The most massive star still on the main sequence tells us the age of the cluster. That point on the main sequence is called the main sequence turnoff. All stars in a cluster are assumed to have formed at about the same time (observations of current star formation do show that stars form in batches). Stars slightly more massive than the turnoff point have already evolved away from main sequence. The most accurate age for a cluster is found from fitting the entire cluster HR diagram (main sequence, sub-giant, red giant, and horizontal branch) to a stellar evolution model of a specific age and chemical composition.

  1. For the common lower mass stars (< 10 solar masses),
    lifetime = (1010) / (Mass3) years.
    Use solar masses!
  2. For the rare massive stars (> 30 solar masses), use
    lifetime = (1010) / (Mass2) years.

Vocabulary

main sequence turnoff

Review Questions

  1. How do cluster H-R diagrams confirm the stellar evolution models?
  2. How can you use a cluster's H-R diagram to find the age of the cluster? What can the main sequence turnoff (MST) tell you?
  3. What assumptions are made in the age-dating method of the main sequence turnoff?
  4. How do you know that a cluster with a MST of 3 solar masses is younger than a cluster with a MST of 2.8 solar masses and older than a cluster with a MST of 3.2 solar masses?

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last updated: 25 May 2001

Is this page a copy of Strobel's Astronomy Notes?
Author of original content: Nick Strobel