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Podcast: StarDate
Episode: Diphda
Description: For stars that are similar to the Sun, the end comes in stages. And each stage is triggered by changes in the star’s core.
One star that’s going through those changes is Diphda, the brightest star of Cetus, the sea monster.
The star is several hundred million years old – billions of years younger than the Sun. For most of its life, it “fused” hydrogen atoms in its core to make helium. When the hydrogen was gone, it began fusing hydrogen in a shell around the core. That made the star puff up, so it was classified...