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"
NGC 7822: Cosmic Question Mark
13 October 2021
It may look like a huge cosmic question mark, but the big question really is how does the bright gas and dark dust tell this nebula's history of star formation. At the edge of a giant molecular cloud toward the northern constellation Cepheus, the glowing star forming region NGC 7822 lies about 3,000 light-years away. Within the nebula, bright edges and dark shapes stand out in this colorful and detailed skyscape. The 9-panel mosaic, taken over 28 nights with a small telescope in Texas, includes data from narrowband filters, mapping emission from atomic oxygen, hydrogen, and sulfur into blue, green, and red hues. The emission line and color combination has become well-known as the Hubble palette. The atomic emission is powered by energetic radiation from the central hot stars. Their powerful winds and radiation sculpt and erode the denser pillar shapes and clear out a characteristic cavity light-years across the center of the natal cloud. Stars could still be forming inside the pillars by gravitational collapse but as the pillars are eroded away, any forming stars will ultimately be cut off from their reservoir of star stuff. This field of view spans over 40 light-years across at the estimated distance of NGC 7822.