Stars!

Hello everyone! Did you like my last blog? This one will be even better. Anyways, welcome to... Meapz4science! Today we will talk about STARS! We will talk about the different lives they lead. Yes, stars lead different lives too. And it might not be what you think. Let's go find out what they might be!

We will also have to time travel a bit. I apologize. Hold on!

Okay, we are here now. Where are all the stars, you say? Well, that will be coming up soon. As you can see, all of these clouds of gas and dust are what make up a Stellar Nursery. This is what makes the stars. It really is what the name implies. It is a nursery for stars. Take this one, for example.

 

Oh look! Gravity is creating a clump of the dust! The clump is getting bigger! And hotter! Oh, and you don't have to call it a hot clump anymore. It is now a Protostar. It is really small right now. It is hard to believe that this is how all stars start their lives. And it will get so dense and hot, that gas will start spurting out of it! Look! There it goes!

Oh my! Even when stars are little babies they are a riot! Eventually it will stop doing all of this. It will ignite because of the immense heat.

Anyways, it is inly producing light and heat right now. Oh look! Nuclear fusion is taking place. Nuclear fusion is when two hydrogen atos fuse to create a helium atom.

You know how I didn't tell you why we time traveled? Well, it turns out that this is our very own sun. I know. Isn't it crazy that our sun is that little ball? Anyways, when nuclear fusion happens, it enters its Main Sequence. This is the longest part of a star's lifetime. Our sun, in regular time, is in this stage. It is about halfway through it. our sun is 4.6 billion years old. So let's travel to when it dies, because it won't happen for a very long time.

 

Okay, we are here. It is now way bigger, and more red? That is because it is now a Red Giant. They start to cool down, and expand. They grow bigger, and bigger, and bigger. Eventually the sun will engulf the inner planets, incluing Earth! Don't worry. We will all be long gone before that happens. Eventually, the outer layer will drift off, forming a Planetary Nebula.

What is left of the actual star is the dead core. A small, but SUPER dense object called a White Dwarf. Other stars will collapse into itself to also form a white dwarf.

 

Anyways, that isn't the only way a star can die. It depends on its mass and size. Kind of like humans! Oh, I just said that, didn't I? Oh gosh. Anyways, let's just move on.

Larger stars can collapse in itself so quickly, it can bounce off of itself and EXPLODE into a Supernova. Some supernovas last for a MONTH, and can outshine our whole galaxy!

 

Others collapse into a Black Hole. It is a super-dense result of a collapsed star that not even light can escape! My last blog post was on black holes. If you would like some more information on black holes, you can check that post out.

 

Anyways, when a supernova occurs, it spits out the raw material to make new stars. Then, we start ALL over again! Anyways, let's go back to our own time, then head home.

 

 Okay, now let's travel home.

 

 Alright everyone, we are at home. Remember, for our sun, the end ISN'T near. Also, other stars are always being made, and always dying. So, we are balanced out. Anyways, I hope you learned a lot today. I'm Emma The Meap, and I will see you next time. PEACE!!!