Star

A star is a luminous sphere of plasma held together by its own gravity. The nearest
star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye from Earth
during the night, appearing as a multitude of fixed luminous points in the sky due to
their immense distance from Earth. Historically, the most prominent stars were
grouped into constellations and asterisms, the brightest of which gained proper
names. Astronomers have assembled star catalogues that identify the known stars
and provide standardized stellar designations. However, most of the stars in the
Universe, including all stars outside our galaxy, the Milky Way, are invisible to the
naked eye from Earth. Indeed, most are invisible from Earth even through the most
powerful telescopes.

For at least a portion of its life, a star shines due to thermonuclear fusion of
hydrogen into helium in its core, releasing energy that traverses the star's interior
and then radiates into outer space. Almost all naturally occurring elements heavier
than helium are created by stellar nucleosynthesis during the star's lifetime, and for
some stars by supernova nucleosynthesis when it explodes. Near the end of its life,
a star can also contain degenerate matter. Astronomers can determine the mass,
age, metallicity (chemical composition), and many other properties of a star by
observing its motion through space, its luminosity, and spectrum respectively. The
total mass of a star is the main factor that determines its evolution and eventual
fate. Other characteristics of a star, including diameter and temperature, change
over its life, while the star's environment affects its rotation and movement. A plot
of the temperature of many stars against their luminosities produces a plot known
as a HertzsprungRussell diagram (HR diagram). Plotting a particular star on that
diagram allows the age and evolutionary state of that star to be determined.

A star's life begins with the gravitational collapse of a gaseous nebula of material
composed primarily of hydrogen, along with helium and trace amounts of heavier
elements. When the stellar core is sufficiently dense, hydrogen becomes steadily
converted into helium through nuclear fusion, releasing energy in the process.[1]
The remainder of the star's interior carries energy away from the core through a
combination of radiative and convective heat transfer processes. The star's internal
pressure prevents it from collapsing further under its own gravity. When the
hydrogen fuel at the core is exhausted, a star of mass 0.4 times greater than the
Sun's[2] will expand to become a red giant. In some cases, it will fuse heavier
elements at the core or in shells around the core. As the star expands it throws a
part of its mass, enriched with those heavier elements, into the interstellar
environment, to be recycled later as new stars.[3] Meanwhile, the core becomes a
stellar remnant: a white dwarf, a neutron star, or if it is sufficiently massive a black
hole.

Binary and multi-star systems consist of two or more stars that are gravitationally
bound and generally move around each other in stable orbits. When two such stars
have a relatively close orbit, their gravitational interaction can have a significant
impact on their evolution.[4] Stars can form part of a much larger gravitationally
bound structure, such as a star cluster or a galaxy.

Elements and Component

. Did you ever wonder what stars are made of? You might not be surprised to know
that stars are made of the same stuff as the rest of the Universe: 73% hydrogen,
25% helium, and the last 2% is all the other elements. Thats it. Except for a few
differences here and there, stars are made of pretty much the same stuff.

After the Big Bang, 13.7 billion years ago, the entire Universe was a hot dense
sphere. The conditions inside this young Universe were so hot that it was equivalent
to being inside the core of a star. In other words, the entire Universe was like a star.
And for the brief time that the Universe was in this state, nuclear fusion reactions
converted hydrogen into helium to the ratios we see today.

The Universe kept expanding and cooling down, and eventually the hydrogen and
helium cooled down to the point that it could actually start collecting together with
its mutual gravity. This is how the first stars were born. And just like the stars we
have today, they were made up of roughly 73% hydrogen and 25% helium. These
first stars were enormous and probably detonated as supernovae within a million
years of forming. In their life, and in their death, these first stars created some of
the heavier elements that we have here on Earth, like oxygen, carbon, gold and
uranium.

Stars have been forming since the Universe began. In fact, astronomers calculate
that 5 new stars form in the Milky Way every year. Some have more of the heavier
elements left over from previous stars; these are metal-rich stars. Others have less
of these elements; the metal-poor stars. But even so, the ratio of elements is still
roughly the same. Our own Sun is an example of a metal rich star, with a higher
than average amount of heavier elements inside it. And yet, the Suns ratios are
very similar: 71% hydrogen, 27.1% helium, and then the rest as heavier elements,
like oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, etc. Of course, the Sun has been converting hydrogen
into helium in its core for 4.5 billion years.

Stars everywhere are made of the same stuff: 3/4 hydrogen and 1/4 helium. Its the
stuff left over from the formation of the Universe, and one of the most elegant
pieces of evidence to help explain how were here today.

We have written many articles about stars here on Universe Today. Heres an article
about how metallic stars can yield planets, and some identical stars that might not
be so identical.

Want more information on stars? Heres Hubblesites News Releases about Stars,
and more information from NASAs imagine the Universe.

We have recorded several episodes of Astronomy Cast about stars. Here are two
that you might find helpful: Episode 12: Where Do Baby Stars Come From, and
Episode 13: Where Do Stars Go When they Die?

References:
NASA
Bluffton University

A star is born when atoms of light elements are squeezed under enough pressure
for their nuclei to undergo fusion. All stars are the result of a balance of forces: the
force of gravity compresses atoms in interstellar gas until the fusion reactions
begin. And once the fusion reactions begin, they exert an outward pressure. As long
as the inward force of gravity and the outward force generated by the fusion
reactions are equal, the star remains stable.
Clouds of gas are common in our galaxy and in other galaxies like ours. These
clouds are called nebulae. A typical nebula is many light-years across and contains
enough mass to make several thousand stars the size of our sun. The majority of
the gas in nebulae consists of molecules of hydrogen and helium--but most nebulae
also contain atoms of other elements, as well as some surprisingly complex organic
molecules. These heavier atoms are remnants of older stars, which have exploded
in an event we call a supernova. The source of the organic molecules is still a
mystery.
STAR BIRTHS are started when the interstellar matter in gas clouds, such as the
Eagle Nebula shown here, compresses and fuses
Image: Hubble Space Telescope
STAR BIRTHS are started when the interstellar matter in gas clouds, such as the
Eagle Nebula shown here, compresses and fuses.

Irregularities in the density of the gas causes a net gravitational force that pulls the
gas molecules closer together. Some astronomers think that a gravitational or
magnetic disturbance causes the nebula to collapse. As the gases collect, they lose
potential energy, which results in an increase in temperature.
As the collapse continues, the temperature increases. The collapsing cloud
separates into many smaller clouds, each of which may eventually become a star.
The core of the cloud collapses faster than the outer parts, and the cloud begins to
rotate faster and faster to conserve angular momentum. When the core reaches a
temperature of about 2,000 degrees Kelvin, the molecules of hydrogen gas break
apart into hydrogen atoms. Eventually the core reaches a temperature of 10,000
degrees Kelvin, and it begins to look like a star when fusion reactions begin. When it
has collapsed to about 30 times the size of our sun, it becomes a protostar.
When the pressure and temperature in the core become great enough to sustain
nuclear fusion, the outward pressure acts against the gravitational force. At this
stage the core is about the size of our sun. The remaining dust envelope
surrounding the star heats up and glows brightly in the infrared part of the
spectrum. At this point the visible light from the new star cannot penetrate the
envelope. Eventually, radiation pressure from the star blows away the envelope and
the new star begins its evolution. The properties and lifetime of the new star
depend on the amount of gas that remains trapped. A star like our sun has a
lifetime of about 10 billion years and is just middle-aged, with another five billion
years or so left.
Margaret M. Hanson, an assistant physics professor at the University of Cincinnati,
gives this response:
Stars form from the gravitational collapse of large clouds of interstellar material. In
fact, the space between stars is not empty; it is nearly empty, but not entirely.
Interstellar matter, that found lying between the stars, is made from gas and dust.
Granted, only about 10 percent of the mass in our Milky Way galaxy is made up of
interstellar matter. But this material, as tenuous as it is, exerts a gravitational force,
and as a result, it will begin to pull itself together.
orion nebula
Image: Hubble Space Telescope
GALACTIC NURSERY. Many stars are born in the beautiful Orion Nebula.
As this accretion continues, the gravity becomes increasingly strong because its
strength rises as the mass increases and the distance of the individual atoms
decreases. Eventually this interstellar matter entirely collapses in on itself. The
material at the very center is compressed by the infalling material on the outside,
pushing down to get to the center. And this compression heats up the center of the
collapsing cloud.
At some point, the temperature gets so extremely high at the center, it triggers a
fusion reaction. All the material that has fallen in then evolves into a hot, bright star.

The star will continue to shine as long as there is hydrogen gas to fuse through
nuclear reactions, and the gravitational pressure pushing inward keeps the atoms
very hot and tightly packed at the center. For a more advanced, elaborate
description, with wonderful pictures, see the Web site A Star Is Born, put together
by Lee Carkner of the University of Colorado.