Calculate Lifespan of a Star

Calculator for the expected lifespan of stars based on their mass compared to the sun. This calculation is a good estimate for stars with a chemical composition similar to that of the sun. Then the lifespan depends only on the mass of the star. The more mass a star has, the lower its life expectancy. The formula for the calculation is: lifespan of the star = lifespan of the sun * (star mass / solar mass) -2.5. The lifespan of the sun is estimated as 10 billion years.

Please enter the mass of the star, its expected lifespan will be calculated. The mass of a star can be between 0.07 and 150 solar masses. The lifetime is the time from the onset of nuclear fusion in the star to its termination. The end can come slowly and result in a white dwarf, which is the case for most stars. For very large stars, however, the end brings a supernova explosion.

Examples: a star with twice the solar mass has a life expectancy of almost 1.8 billion years. A star with half the mass of the Sun has a life expectancy of almost 57 billion years.

The life expectancy of large stars is dramatically shorter than that of small stars, even though they have more fuel available. The reason for this is as follows: Stars generate energy in their interiors through nuclear fusion; in main sequence stars, this is the fusion of hydrogen into helium. Nuclear fusion requires high pressure and high temperature. These are achieved by the mass of the star, whose gravitational force acts inwards, where nuclear fusion takes place. The greater the mass, the greater the pressure and temperature, and the faster the nuclear fusion takes place. The increase in the rate of nuclear fusion is far greater than the larger mass available for fusion can even come close to compensating for. Accordingly, large stars are not only much shorter-lived, but also much more luminous than small stars.