Building White Dwarf Models With MESA : A Glimpse into Modular Stellar Astrophysics

File(s)
Date
2024-04Author
Plonis, Elaina
Advisor(s)
Wolf, William M.
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
When we look at the stars, they seem constant and unchanging. In reality, stars age and change over time, but these changes take place over the course of millions of years—much longer than the lifetime of an astrophysicist. White dwarf stars, which are the remnants of average-sized stars such as our Sun, can accrete mass and undergo novae explosions throughout their lives. However, these novae often occur at unpredictable times, making them difficult to study through observation. As a result, astrophysicists look to computer models to study these white dwarf novae. There are already existing computer models of white dwarf stars, but many of these models were created using older physics and need improvement. Using Modules for Experimentation in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA), this research project created models of white dwarf stars of varying temperatures, masses, and compositions. This research project utilizes the wd_builder module within MESA, which models a white dwarf star that accretes mass until it undergoes a nova burst much. This module also allows us to evolve the white dwarf star much faster than using traditional computational stellar evolution. Thanks to wd_builder, we can create customized white dwarf models in a more streamlined manner.
Subject
White dwarf stars
Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA)
Posters
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Permanent Link
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1793/94436Type
Presentation
Description
Color poster with text, images, charts, photographs, and graphs.