What Is A Star?
Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are. Well, here’s the answer: a star is a ball made of mostly hydrogen and helium gas.
It gets its special shine from the constantly burning gases. Scientists have classified stars into categories to study their similarities and differences.
They determine a star’s temperature by its color, which then indicates how hot it is and how long it will last. Blue giant stars are large but compact which makes them very hot.
We can spot blue giant stars because they shine so brightly – like a lighthouse in the sky. They burst into supernovas when they run out of fuel.
Blue stars burn faster because they are hotter.
Their lifespan is between 10,000 and 100,000 years. In contrast, red dwarf stars will live for trillions of years. Because their red heat is not very hot, they burn fuel at a slower rate.
Armed with this information, take another look at the twinkling stars tonight and wonder no more how they get their glow on.
Learn more about the stars above by clicking on here.
Content provided by Oakland University