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Star

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Star

 

A star is actually a giant ball of gas. Made of mostly hydrogen, they run like a nuclear fusion generator making heat and light energy. They vary in size from tiny neutron stars that are just a few miles wide to red super giants that are millions of miles wide. Stars can live for billions of years. The larger the star, the shorter its lifespan. When a star dies, it is because it runs out of hydrogen. It cools and expands into a red giant, then collapses into a white dwarf, and finally becomes a dead black dwarf. You can tell when you are seeing a star in a photograph because stars seem to have spikes of light shooting out from their center. This is really just how a relic of how the telescope captures the bright starlight.

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School subscriptions can access more than 175 downloadable unit bundles in our store for free (a value of $1,500).

District subscriptions provide huge group discounts for their schools. Email for a quote: sheri@exploringnature.org.

Next Generation Science Standards Connection

ESS1. A  The universe  and its stars
ESS1. B   Earth and the solar system
Patterns of movement of the sun, moon, and stars as seen from Earth can be bserved, described, and predicted
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