How do Stars function ?

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A star is a huge glowing ball of hot gas, mainly hydrogen and helium. The temperature is so high in its core that nuclear fusion occurs, producing energy. The outward pressure of gas heated by fusion is balanced by the inward pull of gravity, leaving the star in hydrostatic equilibrium.

This balance of forces lasts for most of a star’s life, maintaining its steady temperature. Radiation and convection carry the energy from the core out through a star’s atmosphere.

When the energy gets high enough in the atmosphere that the region above it is transparent, it escapes out into space as light of all wave- lengths, as well as stellar wind.

Every star forms in a huge cloud of gas and dust. Over time, gravity causes the cloud to contract, drawing the gas closer and closer together. As more gas accumulates at the center, it becomes denser and pressure increases.

This causes it to heat up and begin to glow. Its gravity continues to pull in gas and dust, further increasing its mass, and thus its pressure and temperature. Eventually, the center reaches millions of degrees Celsius—hot enough to fuse hydrogen nuclei and generate intense energy.

Most stars form in tightly packed groups called star clusters, from which the majority are eventually ejected.

Though stars may look like similar points of light from our perspective on Earth, they actually differ from each other in many ways. Stars vary in their mass, size, temperature, color, luminosity, and age.

They differ in their distance from Earth, and some orbit one or more other stars. They also change over the course of their lives. A star’s mass determines its temperature and luminosity, and how it will live and die.

Without stars, we wouldn’t be here at all. At the beginning of the universe, the only elements that existed were hydrogen, some helium, and trace amounts of lithium. All other naturally occurring elements were formed during the life and death of stars.

At the end of a star’s life, much of its matter is blown into space, where it provides the gas and dust for building new stars, planets, and everything on them including our bodies. Closer to home, when our Sun was born, its gravitational force held gas and dust in orbit, allowing for Earth’s formation.

We can see stars with the naked eye. But to observe them in detail, we depend on technology on the ground and in space.

Ground-based telescopes enable scientists to see visible light, radio waves, and some infrared light.

orbit the Sun, or journey through space allow scientists to observe light at all wavelengths, free from the blurring and obscuring effects of Earth’s atmosphere, and also enable them to sample the solar wind. In the lab, scientists conduct experiments to infer atomic and molecular properties of stars.

Stars balance energy released by thermonuclear fusion with gravity based on their massive size.

Stars form when hydrogen gas clouds condense into a concentrated area. The resulting mass compresses the hydrogen cloud into a sphere, forming a protostar. As more matter collects, the cloud collapses.

The life cycle of a star depends on its mass. Once a star begins its fusion, it enters the main sequence and maintains its hydrostatic equilibrium for billions of years.

The life cycle of a star depends on its mass. Once a star begins its fusion, it enters the main sequence and maintains its hydrostatic equilibrium for billions of years.

Very massive stars glow with blue light and expend their fuel more quickly, finally collapsing as gravity compresses the remaining matter.

This collapse often results in a supernova that ejects the star’s material into space.

Smaller stars undergo this type of collapse, but they do not always explode. Every star on the main sequence eventually expends its fuel and begins a process of collapsing and expanding into a red giant before collapsing into a a white dwarf.

Stars balance energy released by thermonuclear fusion with gravity based on their massive size. Most stars fuse hydrogen into helium, releasing light and thermal energy.

Stars hold together because the large amount of matter involved compresses the gas, forming a luminous sphere. This process is known as hydrostatic equilibrium.

Stars form when hydrogen gas clouds condense into a concentrated area. The resulting mass compresses the hydrogen cloud into a sphere, forming a protostar. As more matter collects, the cloud collapses, increasing its density until the hydrogen begins to release energy through thermonuclear fusion.

This causes the gas cloud to expand until equilibrium between the gravitational forces compressing the gas cloud balances with the expansion. The fusion reactions at the core transport thermal and radiant energy to the surface of the sphere that radiate into space.