star formation articles - Page: 2
How does a star become a dwarf star?
Stars have a diverse range of endpoints dictated almost entirely by their initial mass, but the transformation into a sp...
Is the Sun an average sized yellow star?
The designation of our star, the Sun, as an "average sized yellow star" is a statement so frequently repeated that it of...
Why is the Sun not a star?
The premise that the Sun is *not* a star fundamentally misunderstands celestial classification, as the Sun is, by every ...
Where do most stars come from?
The birthplace of stars is not a single, fiery location but rather vast, cold, and incredibly dense regions scattered th...
Why are stars called dwarfs?
The classification of stars into categories like "dwarf" can often sound counterintuitive when we look up at the night s...
Why is a star stable during the main sequence period of its life cycle?
The vast majority of a star’s existence, the span during which it shines with a steady light, is spent on what astronome...
How to tell if a star is older?
Determining the age of a star is one of astronomy’s most persistent challenges. Unlike a tree, we cannot simply count ri...
Are there stars that live forever?
The concept of a star living forever seems to clash with our observations of exploding supernovae and dimming remnants, ...
What factor determines how a star dies?
The fate awaiting a star is not a matter of chance, but a predetermined outcome written in its very substance at the mom...
What determines what happens to a star at the end of its life?
The ultimate fate of a star is sealed the moment it forms, a destiny entirely dictated by one crucial property: its init...
Is the Sun actually a star yes or no?
The object dominating our daytime sky is, unequivocally, a star. To phrase the question as a simple binary choice misses...
Why don't stars fall out of the sky?
The notion that stars might suddenly detach from the heavens and drop toward Earth is a dramatic image, but it rests on ...
What were stars before they were stars?
The material that eventually ignited to become the universe’s first stars existed in a state profoundly different from t...
What came before the stars?
The grand cosmic tapestry we observe today, peppered with countless galaxies, nebulae, and the familiar glow of establis...
What is the most famous star pattern?
The night sky, an inky expanse peppered with points of light, invites our minds to connect those distant suns into famil...
Why did I just see a line of stars moving?
That sudden appearance of a perfectly straight, evenly spaced line of bright dots marching silently across the dark sky ...
What was before the stars?
The universe, in its infancy, was a place vastly different from the star-studded expanse we observe tonight. Before the ...
What are all stars called as they begin their lives?
The grand, shimmering lights we see overhead have an entire biography, an evolution written across billions of years, di...
What happens to a star's core during a supernova?
The final moments for a truly massive star are less a slow fading and more an abrupt, catastrophic implosion, the prelud...
What is the importance of hydrogen to a star?
The element that begins all things, hydrogen, is the singular, most defining feature of a star. From the vast clouds of ...
Why do all stars contain hydrogen?
The vast majority of the material making up every star in existence is, simply put, the leftover building blocks from th...
Which type of galaxy contains mostly older stars?
When we gaze into the cosmos, the sheer variety of galaxies can seem overwhelming, but astronomers simplify this vastnes...
What stars are good for life?
The search for life beyond Earth inevitably centers on finding the right kind of star to anchor a habitable world. It's ...
What is a galaxy made up of gas, dust, and stars?
Galaxies are vast, gravitationally bound systems composed of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, and an imp...