Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night Their immense distances from earth make them appear as fixed points of light. Of the tens of billions of trillions of stars in the observable universe, only a very small percentage are visible to the naked eye. How does a star work How do they form, live, and eventually die Learn more about these distant objects and their major importance in the universe.
A star is a luminous ball of gas, mostly hydrogen and helium, held together by its own gravity Nuclear fusion reactions in its core support the star against gravity and produce photons and heat, as well as small amounts of heavier elements. The simplest way to describe a star is that it is a great ball of fire, but it is more complicated than that A star is a giant ball of hydrogen turning into helium through nuclear fusion. These large, swelling stars are known as red giants But there are different ways a star’s life can end, and its fate depends on how massive the star is.
Every star forms in a huge cloud of gas and dust Over time, gravity causes the cloud to contract, drawing the gas closer and closer together As more gas accumulates at the center, it becomes denser and pressure increases This causes it to heat up and begin to glow. In a very broad sense, a star is simply one of those twinkling points of light you can see in the night sky But that’s not terribly satisfying in either lexicological or physical terms.
And what happens when they die These star facts explain the science of the night sky.
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