What is the difference between a neutron star, a white dwarf, a brown dwarf, a red giant, a supernova, and an event horizon?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: DorianGreyed,

'regular' stars are prevented form collapsing by the pressure created by the nuclear reactions at their cores. these reactions will only happen if the gravitational pressure forcing the nuclei together is strong.

a brown dwarf is a cloud of hydrogen that never got quite big enough to sustain fusion.

main sequence stars are stars where the pressures of gravity and fusion balance each other out and the star is stable.

red giants are former main sequence stars where the star has converted most of it's core hydrogen to helium, the core begins to collapse and the outside begins to cool.

White dwarfs are about the size of the earth and have about the mass of the sun. they are produced by the collapse of a small red giant. They are supported by degenerate electron pressure. (pressure that resists the electrons from being collapsed into the nucleus)

black dwarves are white dwarves that have cooled off.

larger red giant-like stars known as supergiants will undergo supernovae (an explosion/implosion where the outer layers are expelled and the inner layers contract) because the electron degeneracy pressure is not strong enough to balance out the gravitational pressure (more mass creates more gravitational pressure).

neutrons stars are a few kilometers in diameter but have masses greater than that of the sun. their cores are made up of neutrons (electron degeneracy pressure has been overcome and the electrons have been collapsed into the nucleus). the stars are prevented from collapsing by neutron degeneracy pressure (pressure that resists the neutrons from being collapsed together). they usually spin very fast (~1 billion rotations per second) and emit light in cones from opposite sides (think of it like a lighthouse) this makes the stars appear to pulse, which is why they are known as pulsars.

if the collapsing star is too large for neutron degeneracy pressure to keep it from collapsing further, it collapses through a supernova into a point (zero volume). This is a black hole. the gravity of a black hole is very strong at short distances. so strong that if it gets close enough even light is pulled in. The radius at which the pull is strong enough to trap light is called the event horizon.

Methos! Great Job thanks!