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Life Cycle of the Stars. The Making of the Star . Stars are formed in nebulae, which are large clouds of dust and gas. Some of these clouds can get be up to 1 light year long, from base to tip. The majority of the gas in these stellar nurseries is hydrogen. Gravity Pulls It Together.
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The Making of the Star • Stars are formed in nebulae, which are large clouds of dust and gas. • Some of these clouds can get be up to 1 light year long, from base to tip. • The majority of the gas in these stellar nurseries is hydrogen.
Gravity Pulls It Together • Gravity at the center of the cloud pulls the dust together and starts to form a clump of matter. • As the ball of matter gets bigger, the force of gravity becomes stronger. • As the clump of matter grows, it begins to spin and heat up.
A Star is Born • When the core of the matter becomes hot enough, thermonuclear fusion begins. • This means that there is enough heat to turn hydrogen to helium. • Once this has happened a true star has been born. • The star shines with its own light. • A solar wind then blows away the rest of the dust and gas.
The Death of a Star • How a star ends its life depends on its mass or how much matter it was born with. • Low and medium mass stars will end up as white dwarfs. • Stars that started with a lot of mass may end their lives as black holes or neutron stars.
The Dying Star • When the star runs out of helium to burn, the star starts to collapse. • The star begins to collapse into itself. This collapse causes the star to compact. • After several more nuclear processes the star burns all the remaining helium and loses its outer layers. Now, the compacted core is exposed to the universe.
The White Dwarf • A White Dwarf is the end of the life cycle for Earth sized stars. • They produce a white-hot glow.
Neutron Stars • When a star that is the size of 10 to 20 solar masses runs out of fuel to burn, it explodes and the remaining matter collapses to become a neutron star. • This compact star is a few kilometers in diameter and resembles a giant nucleus made of neutrons.
Black Holes • When a star of more than 30 solar masses runs out of fuel, the collapse is so strong that no known force can stop it or resist it. • This collapse happens at a single point. • The matter of the star, its atoms and subatomic particles are squeezed out of existence, but the star remains its mass. • Not even light can escape, that is whyit is called a black hole.
