- Born:
- October 19, 1910, Lahore, India [now in Pakistan]
- Awards And Honors:
- Copley Medal (1984)
- Nobel Prize (1983)
- Subjects Of Study:
- Chandrasekhar limit
- black hole
- convection
- mass
- radiation
- star
- stellar evolution
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
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Who was Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar?
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1910–1995) was an Indian-born American astrophysicist who received the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physics with William A. Fowler for discoveries about the later evolutionary stages of massive stars.
In the early 1930s, Chandrasekhar determined the Chandrasekhar limit, the maximum mass possible for a stable white dwarf star. He showed that a star exceeding 1.44 times the mass of the Sun would not become a white dwarf but would collapse further, leading to a supernova, neutron star, or black hole.
Joining the University of Chicago in 1938, he became a U.S. citizen in 1953. Chandrasekhar also contributed to understanding energy transfer by radiation in stellar atmospheres and convection on the solar surface. His work laid the groundwork for understanding supernovas, neutron stars, and black holes.
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What field of science did Chandrasekhar work in?
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar was an Indian-born American astrophysicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1983 with William A. Fowler for discoveries about the later evolutionary stages of massive stars.
Chandrasekhar determined the Chandrasekhar limit, the maximum mass possible for a stable white dwarf star. He showed a star with a mass more than 1.44 times that of the Sun does not form a white dwarf but collapses, resulting in a supernova explosion and a neutron star. More massive stars become black holes. His other work included studying energy transfer by radiation in stellar atmospheres and convection on the solar surface. Chandrasekhar also worked to develop the mathematical theory of black holes.
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What is Chandrasekhar best known for discovering?
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar is best known for discovering the Chandrasekhar limit, the maximum mass theoretically possible for a stable white dwarf star.
Chandrasekhar determined that a star with a mass exceeding 1.44 times that of the Sun would not become a white dwarf. Instead, it would continue to collapse and transform into a neutron star or a black hole. His work contributed to understanding supernovas, neutron stars, and black holes.
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What is the Chandrasekhar Limit and why is it important in astronomy?
The Chandrasekhar limit is the maximum mass, about 1.44 times the mass of the Sun, that a stable white dwarf star can have.
Indian-American astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar formulated this limit in 1930, using Einstein's special relativity theory and quantum physics principles. If a star exceeds this limit, it collapses into a neutron star or a black hole. This concept is important to astronomy because it explains the ultimate fate of massive stars and the formation of supernovas, neutron stars, and black holes.
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How did Chandrasekhar's work contribute to our understanding of stars?
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar determined that stars exceeding 1.44 times the mass of the Sun do not become white dwarfs. Instead, they collapse and may become neutron stars after a supernova explosion. More massive stars can further collapse into black holes. This concept, known as the Chandrasekhar limit, contributed to understanding supernovas, neutron stars, and black holes and earned him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1983.
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What awards and recognition did Chandrasekhar receive for his discoveries?
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, an Indian-American astrophysicist, received several awards for his work. He is most known for winning the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1983, which he shared with William A. Fowler, for his discoveries concerning the later evolutionary stages of massive stars.
His other awards include:
* Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1953)
* Royal Medal of the Royal Society (1962)
* Copley Medal of the Royal Society (1984)Chandrasekhar's work led to the acceptance of the theory that stars exceeding 1.44 times the mass of the Sun, known as the Chandrasekhar limit, would collapse to become a neutron star or a black hole.
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Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (born October 19, 1910, Lahore, India [now in Pakistan]—died August 21, 1995, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.) was an Indian-born American astrophysicist who, with William A. Fowler, won the 1983 Nobel Prize for Physics for key discoveries that led to the currently accepted theory on the later evolutionary stages of massive stars.
Chandrasekhar was the nephew of Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1930. Chandrasekhar was educated at Presidency College, at the University of Madras, and at Trinity College, Cambridge. From 1933 to 1936 he held a position at Trinity.
By the early 1930s, scientists had concluded that, after converting all of their hydrogen to helium, stars lose energy and contract under the influence of their own gravity. These stars, known as white dwarf stars, contract to about the size of Earth, and the electrons and nuclei of their constituent atoms are compressed to a state of extremely high density. Chandrasekhar determined what is known as the Chandrasekhar limit—that a star having a mass more than 1.44 times that of the Sun does not form a white dwarf but instead continues to collapse, blows off its gaseous envelope in a supernova explosion, and becomes a neutron star. An even more massive star continues to collapse and becomes a black hole. These calculations contributed to the eventual understanding of supernovas, neutron stars, and black holes. Chandrasekhar came up with the idea for a limit on his voyage to England in 1930. However, his ideas met strong opposition, particularly from English astronomer Arthur Eddington, and took years to be generally accepted.
Chandrasekhar joined the staff of the University of Chicago, rising from assistant professor of astrophysics (1938) to Morton D. Hull distinguished service professor of astrophysics (1952), and became a U.S. citizen in 1953. He did important work on energy transfer by radiation in stellar atmospheres and convection on the solar surface. He also attempted to develop the mathematical theory of black holes, describing his work in The Mathematical Theory of Black Holes (1983).
Chandrasekhar was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1953, the Royal Medal of the Royal Society in 1962, and the Copley Medal of the Royal Society in 1984. His other books included An Introduction to the Study of Stellar Structure (1939), Principles of Stellar Dynamics (1942), Radiative Transfer (1950), Hydrodynamic and Hydromagnetic Stability (1961), Truth and Beauty: Aesthetics and Motivations in Science (1987), and Newton’s Principia for the Common Reader (1995).