http://physicsweb.org/articles/news/9/1/8/1
Models of how quickly stars evolve may have to be modified after astrophysicists found that the rate at which three helium nuclei transform into carbon-12 is very different from earlier estimates. This so-called triple-alpha process occurs in the interiors of certain stars and is important for determining how abundant different elements are in the universe. The researchers found that at temperatures below about 5 x 107 K the rate is significantly higher than previously thought, but that it is much lower at temperatures above 109 K (H Fynbo et al. 2005 Nature 433 136).
…
“The triple-alpha rate depends heavily on temperature so when you go from 107 K to 1010 K it changes by 80 orders of magnitude,” says Fynbo.
Can any physicists make a napkin calculation to guess at what this means for stellar evolution and the ages of stars? Do stars live longer or shorter than we thought? Or do the words “certain stars” in the article indicate that this only applies to a very narrow category?
I’d be very interested in the answers to this, from one of our skilled astrophysicists.
One quick point: I’m sure that the numbers given are artifacts of the copying-and-pasting methodology in the OP, and that they should be:
“The researchers found that at temperatures below about 5 x 10[sup]7[/sup] K the rate is significantly higher than previously thought, but that it is much lower at temperatures above 10[sup]9[/sup] K (H Fynbo et al. 2005 Nature 433 136).”
“The triple-alpha rate depends heavily on temperature so when you go from 10[sup]7[/sup] K to 10[sup]10[/sup] K it changes by 80 orders of magnitude,” says Fynbo. "