Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Jun 1983
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1983a%26a...122..212m&link_type=abstract
Astronomy and Astrophysics (ISSN 0004-6361), vol. 122, no. 1-2, June 1983, p. 212-218.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
56
Carbon 12, Oxygen, Solidified Gases, Stellar Evolution, White Dwarf Stars, Atmospheric Composition, Density (Mass/Volume), Phase Diagrams, Solidification, Stellar Atmospheres, Stellar Luminosity, Supernovae
Scientific paper
Assuming a C-12 and O-16 mixture phase diagram exhibiting an oxygen-poor eutectic, the cooling and solidification of a carbon-oxygen white dwarf is considered. Freezing is in the present case an efficient chemical differentiation mechanism, and an almost pure oxygen snow which is denser than the liquid crystallizes and settles at the center as the carbon is mixed throughout the rest of the star by convective motions due to an unstable concentration gradient. Although solid carbon begins to form when the fluid at the oxygen core boundary has reached the eutectic composition, the high gravity may ensure further differentiation because the carbon snow, which is less dense than the liquid, will rise to lower density regions and melt. White dwarf evolution is compared to the coexistence of carbon and oxygen in an alloy. Cooling time is increased by the combined effects of lower luminosity and binding energy release radiation due to the differentiation process.
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