6 Summary of Week 7

This week you have learned about the life cycles of stars and how the mass of a star determines its evolution after the main sequence and its eventual fate. You have seen the importance of the instability strip on the HR diagram.

You have learned about three different types of variable star: pulsating variables such as Cepheids, eclipsing binaries and cataclysmic variables.

In a section on collaboration in science you have seen the advantages of working with others and how large projects can give you access to advanced equipment and large volumes of data, including recent discoveries.

Finally, using skills that you have developed earlier in the course, you have prepared your first observations of an eclipsing binary star, ready for the final phase of the investigation next week in which you will analyse your results and submit them to be added to the light curve for your chosen object. By combining your results with those of others you will be following up on the discoveries of SuperWASP and contributing to the advancement of scientific knowledge.

You can now go to Week 8 [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] .