Help please on essay about star formation

[perlastudies]

TL;DR Summary: hi everyone! i am currently a junior in high school and I am writing a 3000-4000 word research paper on star life cycle and its role in the creation of celestial bodies. i have encountered an issue where I do not meet the word requirement because i am not exactly making a proper argument, but I am honestly a bit confused as to what argument I could make because i feel i do not have a complete understanding of the life cycle and what exactly allows them to contribute to celestial bodies. any tips

hi everyone! i am currently a junior in high school and I am writing a 3000-4000 word research paper on star life cycle and its role in the creation of celestial bodies. i have encountered an issue where I do not meet the word requirement because i am not exactly making a proper argument, but I am honestly a bit confused as to what argument I could make because i feel i do not have a complete understanding of the life cycle and what exactly allows them to contribute to celestial bodies. maybe if any of you have ideas on how i could form an argument or different pathways i could take to show their relationship would be great. I think i just need to think of it in different ways. any help is appreciated, thanks!

 

[Vanadium 50]

I am writing a 3000-4000 word research paper

I hope it has more than one sentence.

Start with the outline. Then look at it and tell us what pieces have gaps and what help you need in getting them filled.

 

[perlastudies]

Here is what I have so far, I have ~2,100 words but the issue is I have no formulas, graphs, or data to support my argument, but I don't know what exactly I could use to support it.

Here is how it is currently organized:
- How a star is born: components needed to make a star, what causes a protostar to become a star.
- Beginning of the star's life cycle: How thermonuclear fusion within the star's core counteracts the inward contraction of gravity. At some point hydrogen supply is used, and the star's core shrinks and the outer layer of the star expands and cools off.
* side note: I am unclear about whether there is always hydrogen present during the thermonuclear fusion process until it gets to iron or if it is not present after the star starts making heavier elements such as carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen.
(cont.) In this section I also discuss electron degeneracy pressure, which is what makes white dwarfs (?). After I talk about the fate of stars that surpass Chandrasekhar's limit and how they may go into a supernova explosion and then form a neutron star or black hole.
- I then discuss the different types of supernovae and their effeect on stars.
- Next, the role of supernovae in the creation of celestial bodies, as it ejects necessary elements and provides the temperature for them to be formed
- I discuss also findings of a black hole that seems to be creating stars in its surrounding region rather than consuming them. This is what I have until now.

I think my main issue is lack of understanding and depth of each specific process, perhaps if I could go more in-depth on chemical aspects or more details of star life cycle it would be more clear, but I feel I am missing pieces of the full story because each article I have read provides a different level of complexity so it is difficult to kind of piece things together coming from not having studied this at all.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Here is what an outline looks like:
1. Introduction.
2. Major Point 1
A. Supporting evidence for Major point 1.
B. Supporting evidence for Major point 1.
C. Supporting evidence for Major point 1.
...
3. Major Point 2
A. Supporting evidence for Major point 2.
B. Supporting evidence for Major point 2.
C. Supporting evidence for Major point 2.
...
...
5. Conclusions

This is your paper, and needs to be your ideas and your thoughts. We can point you to where you can find various facts, but the paper needs to be yours. You need to start with an outline.

 

[perlastudies]

This helps so much, thank you!!

 

[Klystron]

Your stellar essay may benefit from a narrow focus. Consider focusing on Sol, our sun, as your primary subject. You can find rich sources of data including centuries of observation and analysis, cogent theories of how our star formed and developed to its present state and expected future life, with reams of actual photographs under different conditions.

You could use the recent solar eclipse as an interesting event that improves our knowledge of stars in general. The fact that Sol is so well documented should improve your ideas on the subject. Remember to cite your sources in an appendix or bibliography.

Consider that many important astronomical units are based on our solar system. For example, an AU is based on the distance from Sol to Earth, the propensity of a star to nova or develop as a black hole uses Sol's mass as a basic unit of measurement. Notice that our sun is considered an average stellar specimen based on color, luminosity, age, size and other properties.

Sol produces and the solar system contains many known products in addition to light and heat, such as the solar "wind", massive amounts of neutrinos, unifying gravity, comets and asteroids, and even planets such as Earth and mighty Jupiter.

Physics Forums contains many threads on Sol including events such as mass coronal discharges, sunspot cycles, and eclipses.