Chlorine Star

[foodchain]

I know its probably accepted that a star based on chlorine is impossible, but for the sake of argument if it were possible how would it be and what would it look like or behave like if real?

[Klaynos]

As a general rule, when you break or just completely ignore a law of physics which applies fully to a situation the answer can be anything you want...

[foodchain]

As a general rule, when you break or just completely ignore a law of physics which applies fully to a situation the answer can be anything you want...

 

Right that’s why its hypothetical or just a question. For instance what would nucleosynthesis yield if a star was based on chlorine. I don’t expect people to view the thread as something more then just a hypothetical question, sorry.

 

Another question you could add to it would be its impact on say cosmology in regards to gravity or galaxy formations if such an entity existed.

[Realitycheck]

The silicon-burning process of a giant star in one of its stages as a dwarf is the heaviest element you can work with before it becomes an iron dwarf. However, it seems tempting that somehow a halogen might be able to be used in a star - older, recycled matter that is highly reactive, but I am definitely not up on my Chemistry.

 

In more massive stars, helium is produced in a cycle of reactions catalyzed by carbon—the carbon-nitrogen-oxygen cycle.[107]

 

In evolved stars with cores at 100 million K and masses between 0.5 and 10 solar masses, helium can be transformed into carbon in the triple-alpha process that uses the intermediate element beryllium:[107]

 

4He + 4He + 92 keV → 8*Be

4He + 8*Be + 67 keV → 12*C

12*C → 12C + γ + 7.4 MeV

 

For an overall reaction of:

 

34He → 12C + γ + 7.2 MeV

 

In massive stars, heavier elements can also be burned in a contracting core through the Neon burning process and Oxygen burning process. The final stage in the stellar nucleosynthesis process is the Silicon burning process that results in the production of the stable isotope iron-56. Fusion can not proceed any further except through an endothermic process, and so further energy can only be produced through gravitational collapse.[107]

 

The example below shows the amount of time required for a star of 20 solar masses to consume all of its nuclear fuel. As an O-class main sequence star, it would be 8 times the solar radius and 62,000 times the Sun's luminosity.[108]

 

 

Fuel

material Temperature(million kelvins) Density(kg/cm³) Burn duration(τ in years)

H 37 0.0045 8.1 million

He 188 0.97 1.2 million

C 870 170 976

Ne 1,570 3,100 0.6

O 1,980 5,550 1.25

S/Si 3,340 33,400 0.0315[109]

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star

 

It looks like the heavier you get, the higher density and temperature you need to accomplish it, of which sooner or later there must be some type of limit. Chlorine is just too high up on the list.

[YT2095]

it`s unlikely a Pure Chlorine star could exist, but where there is a star that has large amounts of it, then I would expect that the spectral lines would show this as bands that peak in the Chlorine spectra.

 

I`m not sure what the Chlorine signature is, it`s not in my data book, but it should be easy enough to find on the net.

[swansont]

The silicon-burning process of a giant star in one of its stages as a dwarf is the heaviest element you can work with before it becomes an iron dwarf. However, it seems tempting that somehow a halogen might be able to be used in a star - older, recycled matter that is highly reactive, but I am definitely not up on my Chemistry.

 

Chemistry wouldn't matter much, since you're dealing with nuclear reactions. What you'd need to consider is if you just had Cl or if it were an element that's around in another star.

 

In the case where it's pure for some reason, Chlorine would tend to want to fuse into Selenium

 

₁₇Cl³⁴ is stable, as is ₃₄Se⁷⁴, and the reaction yields 8.7 MeV. You'd need sufficient temperature to overcome the Coulomb repulsion on a regular basis.