Star
A star is a massive, self-luminous sphere of plasma held together by its own gravity. It shines by converting hydrogen into helium through nuclear fusion in its core, releasing energy across the electromagnetic spectrum.
Stars form in large clouds of gas and dust—called nebulae—where regions collapse under gravity, creating protostars. When core temperatures reach millions of degrees, fusion ignites, marking the birth of a star. Observatories like Hubble and missions such as NASA’s Infrared telescopes have imaged this process in action.
The majority (~90%) of stars are main-sequence stars, fusing hydrogen into helium. These include a broad range of masses—from red dwarfs (small, long-lived, faint) to blue giants and supergiants (massive, hot, and short-lived). Our Sun is a middle-aged G-type main sequence star.
As stars exhaust their hydrogen fuel, their evolution depends on mass. Lower-mass stars become red giants then white dwarfs. More massive stars undergo successive fusion stages, end in supernova explosions, and leave behind neutron stars or black holes.
Stars vary in brightness, size, and color. They are classified using spectral types (O, B, A, F, G, K, M) based on surface temperature and absorption lines. For example, O- and B-type stars are hot and blue; M-type are cool and red.
Stellar remnants include white dwarfs (Earth-sized cores of former stars), neutron stars (city-sized remnants of supernovae), and black holes (extreme-density objects from the most massive stars).
Stars are not static—many rotate, exhibit magnetic activity (like sunspots and flares), and broadcast stellar winds. Their lifecycle enriches the interstellar medium with heavier elements, seeding future generations of stars and planets.
Stars often exist in groups—binary or systems within star clusters and galaxies. Their properties are studied via brightness, spectra, parallax, variability, and statistical surveys by missions like Gaia and Kepler.
Sources
APODs including "Star"
At the Center of the Milky Way
18 October 2002
At the center of our Milky Way Galaxy lies a black hole with over 2 million times the mass of the Sun. Once a controversial claim, this astounding conclusion is now virtually inescapable and based on observations of stars orbiting very near the galactic center. Using one of the Paranal Observatory's very large telescopes and the sophisticated infrared camera NACO, astronomers patiently followed the orbit of a particular star, designated S2, as it came within about 17 light-hours of the center of the Milky Way (17 light-hours is only about 3 times the radius of Pluto's orbit). Their results convincingly show that S2 is moving under the influence of the enormous gravity of an unseen object which must be extremely compact -- a supermassive black hole. This deep NACO near-infrared image shows the crowded inner 2 light-years of the Milky Way with the exact position of the galactic center indicated by arrows. NACO's ability to track stars so close to the galactic center can accurately measure the black hole's mass and perhaps even provide an unprecedented test of Einstein's theory of gravity as astronomers watch a star orbit a supermassive black hole.