How do stars burn for sooooo long ?

On Fri, 8 Aug 2003 12:13:39 -0400, "BenignVanilla"
wrote:


"ugotthe8" wrote in message
...
Hi,

Just a simple question...How do stars keep going and going and going for
so
long?

I realize that there is an amazing amount of gas in them, but it seems to
me, that if it is flammable, it should all burn up at once in a big chain
reaction explosion?

I think I may be missing something fundamental. Does the energy come
from
heavy elements at the center and get realeased gradually or something?

Is there a good website that explains this? Thanks.

Picture making some bacon, and the grease in the pan catches fire. There
will be a flash, and then a nice 3 foot flame for a minute or so. Now
picture a REALLY BIG FRYING PAN and LOTS OF GREASE!!!

BV.


Stars are not usually made of grease.

I know of only one case where grease made stars.
http://www.greasemovie.com/

On Fri, 8 Aug 2003 11:47:01 -0400, "ugotthe8"
wrote:

Hi,

Just a simple question...How do stars keep going and going and going for so
long?

I realize that there is an amazing amount of gas in them, but it seems to
me, that if it is flammable, it should all burn up at once in a big chain
reaction explosion?

I think I may be missing something fundamental. Does the energy come from
heavy elements at the center and get realeased gradually or something?

Is there a good website that explains this? Thanks.



In physics, nuclear fusion (a thermonuclear reaction) is a process in
which two nuclei join to form a larger nucleus, thereby giving off
energy. Nuclear fusion is the energy source which causes stars to
"shine", and hydrogen bombs to explode.

http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fusion

"ugotthe8" wrote in message
...
Hi,

Just a simple question...How do stars keep going and going and going for
so
long?

I realize that there is an amazing amount of gas in them, but it seems to
me, that if it is flammable, it should all burn up at once in a big chain
reaction explosion?

I think I may be missing something fundamental. Does the energy come
from
heavy elements at the center and get realeased gradually or something?

Stars don't burn in the conventional sense of the word,
that is, a chemical reaction combining ingredients and
generating heat in the process. They "burn" by fusing
matter (hydrogen into helium in the early going). The
conditions that support fusion only obtain in the high
pressure, dense core of the star. So the process is
self-throttling as the generated heat tries to expand
the core and drop the density, while gravity presses the
material together. New fuel has to fall in across the
critical density boundary in order to keep the thing
going.

Stars do NOT BURE as in a flame from a gas stove, they are BIG BLAZING NUKE
REACTORS.



--
"In this universe the night was falling,the shadows were lengthening
towards an east that would not know another dawn.
But elsewhere the stars were still young and the light of morning
lingered: and along the path he once had followed, man would one day go
again."

Arthur C. Clarke, The City & The Stars

SIAR
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http://home.inreach.com/starlord

"ugotthe8" wrote in message
...
Hi,

Just a simple question...How do stars keep going and going and going for so
long?

I realize that there is an amazing amount of gas in them, but it seems to
me, that if it is flammable, it should all burn up at once in a big chain
reaction explosion?

I think I may be missing something fundamental. Does the energy come from
heavy elements at the center and get realeased gradually or something?

Is there a good website that explains this? Thanks.

"BenignVanilla" wrote in message
...

"ugotthe8" wrote in message
...
Hi,

Just a simple question...How do stars keep going and going and going for
so
long?

I realize that there is an amazing amount of gas in them, but it seems
to
me, that if it is flammable, it should all burn up at once in a big
chain
reaction explosion?

I think I may be missing something fundamental. Does the energy come
from
heavy elements at the center and get realeased gradually or something?

Is there a good website that explains this? Thanks.

Picture making some bacon, and the grease in the pan catches fire. There
will be a flash, and then a nice 3 foot flame for a minute or so. Now
picture a REALLY BIG FRYING PAN and LOTS OF GREASE!!!


Ah... All that greasy flame explains all of the dust (soot) we see.

Do elliptical galaxies have stars burning cleaner grease?

Clear Skies

Chuck Taylor
Do you observe the moon?
Try the Lunar Observing Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lunar-observing/

Stars can last for a long time if they burn their hydrogen slowly.Very
large dense stars remind me of my wife,and the way she spends money.
Bert

"BenignVanilla" wrote in message
...

Picture making some bacon, and the grease in the pan catches fire. There
will be a flash, and then a nice 3 foot flame for a minute or so. Now
picture a REALLY BIG FRYING PAN and LOTS OF GREASE!!!

What's that Dark Matter in the bottom of my frying pan?

"BenignVanilla" wrote in message
...

Picture making some bacon, and the grease in the pan catches fire. There
will be a flash, and then a nice 3 foot flame for a minute or so. Now
picture a REALLY BIG FRYING PAN and LOTS OF GREASE!!!

What's that Dark Matter in the bottom of my frying pan?

"Chuck Taylor" wrote in message
...

"BenignVanilla" wrote in message
...

"ugotthe8" wrote in message
...
Hi,

Just a simple question...How do stars keep going and going and going
for
so
long?

I realize that there is an amazing amount of gas in them, but it seems
to
me, that if it is flammable, it should all burn up at once in a big
chain
reaction explosion?

I think I may be missing something fundamental. Does the energy come
from
heavy elements at the center and get realeased gradually or something?

Is there a good website that explains this? Thanks.

Picture making some bacon, and the grease in the pan catches fire. There
will be a flash, and then a nice 3 foot flame for a minute or so. Now
picture a REALLY BIG FRYING PAN and LOTS OF GREASE!!!


Ah... All that greasy flame explains all of the dust (soot) we see.

Do elliptical galaxies have stars burning cleaner grease?
snip

Somehow my light-hearted example seems to have been misunderstood. In order
to protect my reputation as a partial idiot and not a total one, I'd like to
explain. What I was trying to illustrate was that although the grease fire
begins with a bang, it does not burn all the fuel instantly. Stars work the
same way, as I understand it. They start with a nice hot fusion reaction,
and then peter out slowly (millions of years?) as they use up their fuel. So
although there is a constant super hot fusion reaction going, stars are so
massive that they take a long time to burn up ALL of their fuel.

BV.

"BenignVanilla" wrote in message
...

Somehow my light-hearted example seems to have been misunderstood. In
order
to protect my reputation as a partial idiot and not a total one, I'd like
to
explain. What I was trying to illustrate was that although the grease fire
begins with a bang, it does not burn all the fuel instantly. Stars work
the
same way, as I understand it. They start with a nice hot fusion reaction,
and then peter out slowly (millions of years?) as they use up their fuel.
So
although there is a constant super hot fusion reaction going, stars are so
massive that they take a long time to burn up ALL of their fuel.

Make that billions of years. After all, our own solar system
has been cooking along for some 5 billion years already, with
probably another five or so to go.