Iron star - Misplaced Pages

Hypothetical far-future compact star

In astronomy, an iron star is a hypothetical type of compact star.

Unrelatedly, the term "iron star" is also used for blue supergiants which have a forest of forbidden Fe_II lines in their spectra. They are potentially quiescent hot luminous blue variables. Eta Carinae has been described as a prototypical example.

Formation

Formation of iron stars
Event type	Formation of a hypothetical type of compact star
Date	c. 10 years from now
Duration	c. 10 to 10 years from now
Epoch	Extremely far future
Source	Fusion occurring via quantum tunnelling causing nuclei to fuse into iron-56 nuclei
Notable features	Only a possibility if protons do not decay
Followed by	Formation of neutron stars and black holes
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An iron star is a hypothetical type of compact star that could occur in the universe in the extremely far future, after perhaps 10 years.

The premise behind the formation of iron stars states that cold fusion occurring via quantum tunnelling would cause the light nuclei in ordinary matter to fuse into iron-56 nuclei. Fission and alpha-particle emission would then make heavy nuclei decay into iron, converting stellar-mass objects to cold spheres of iron. The formation of these stars is only a possibility if protons do not decay. Though the surface of a neutron star may be iron according to some predictions, it is distinct from an iron star.

By the end of 10 to 10 years, iron stars would have collapsed into neutron stars and black holes.

In popular culture

The Soviet film The Andromeda Nebula is about a starship low on fuel caught by an iron star's gravity, with the star itself being so dim that it can only be seen in the infrared. It is based on the novel Andromeda Nebula by Ivan Yefremov written when steady state theory was dominant and iron stars were expected to exist in the Milky Way.

References

Walborn, Nolan R.; Fitzpatrick, Edward L. (2000). "The OB Zoo: A Digital Atlas of Peculiar Spectra". The Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 112 (767): 50. Bibcode:2000PASP..112...50W. doi:10.1086/316490.
Clark, J. S.; Castro, N.; Garcia, M.; Herrero, A.; Najarro, F.; Negueruela, I.; Ritchie, B. W.; Smith, K. T. (2012). "On the nature of candidate luminous blue variables in M 33". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 541: A146. arXiv:1202.4409. Bibcode:2012A&A...541A.146C. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201118440. S2CID 17900583.
^ Dyson, Freeman J. (1979). "Time without end: Physics and biology in an open universe". Reviews of Modern Physics. 51 (3): 447–460. Bibcode:1979RvMP...51..447D. doi:10.1103/RevModPhys.51.447.

Stars

List

Formation

Evolution

Classification

Early Late Main sequence O B A F G K M Subdwarf O B WR OB Subgiant Giant Blue Red Yellow Bright giant Supergiant Blue Red Yellow Hypergiant Yellow Carbon S CN CH White dwarf Chemically peculiar Am Ap/Bp CEMP HgMn He-weak Barium Lambda Boötis Lead Technetium Be Shell B Helium Extreme Blue straggler
Remnants	Compact star Parker's star White dwarf Helium planet Neutron Radio-quiet Pulsar Binary X-ray Magnetar Stellar black hole X-ray binary Burster SGR
Hypothetical	Blue dwarf Black dwarf Exotic Boson Electroweak Strange Preon Planck Dark Dark-energy Quark Q Black hole star Black Hawking Quasi-star Gravastar Thorne–Żytkow object Iron Blitzar White hole

Nucleosynthesis

Structure

Properties

Star systems

Earth-centric
observations

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Formation

In popular culture

See also

References