Main Presentation
Intermediate Mass Stars (such as the Sun)
We are very pleased to have Astronomer Joaquín Bohigas Bosch presenting to us via zoom.
Brief:
Intermediate mass stars are all those whose initial mass is roughly between half and 8 times the solar mass. These stars go through the first two stages of stellar evolution – hydrogen and helium fusion – and end their existence as white dwarfs, no matter how massive they were at the beginning. Less massive stars – red dwarfs – are unable to produce helium fusion. More massive stars complete all possible fusion reactions and end up as a neutron star or a black hole. Intermediate mass stars produce and seed the three basic elements of life; carbon, oxygen and nitrogen, and now we know that life can only prosper in planets orbiting intermediate mass stars that are up to 10% more massive than the Sun. In this talk we will see what other range of physical properties – surface temperature, size, luminosity and radius – do they have and discuss their evolution after they were formed by the collapse of a molecular cloud. Obviously, the Sun will be frequently mentioned during this talk.
Bio:
Born in Mexico City in 1950, Joaquín Bohigas Bosch is an astronomer (retired in 2021) schooled at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and the Oxford University. For forty years he was a researcher at UNAM’s Institute of Astronomy, almost always in the facilities that this institute has in the city of Ensenada, BC, Mexico. Most of his activities were directly related to investigating different manifestations of the interstellar medium – such as supernovae remnants, star forming regions and planetary nebulae – but he also spent part of his time teaching and in outreach activities, as well as presiding over and developing instrumentation for the National Astronomical Observatory in the Sierra de San Pedro Mártir, Baja California. He is the author of The Discovery of Stars. English, Spanish and Catalan versions of this book are available on Amazon.
Photo: Joaquín Bohigas Bosch
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