Life Cycle of

a Star

Stage 1 - Protostars
Stars

are formed in a Nebula.

A Nebula is a very large cloud
of gas and dust in space.
Gravity makes dense region
of gas more compact
Soon take on a definite shape
and are called protostars.

Emission Nebula

Reflection Nebula

Dark Nebula

Planetary Nebula

Supernova
Remnants

Stage 2 Main
Sequence

Main sequence stars fuse

hydrogen to form helium.
It takes about 10 billion
years to consume all the
hydrogen in a Main Sequence
star.

Stage 3 Red Giant

Collapsing

outer layers
cause core to heat up.
fusion of helium into
carbon begins.

Red Giant Stars

The Sun as Red

Giant

Stage 4 White Dwarf

The

pressure exerted on the

core by the outer layers does
not produce enough energy
to start carbon fusion.
The core is now very dense
and very hot.

White Dwarf

Stage 5 Black
Dwarf
As the white dwarf cools, the
light it gives off will fade
through the visible light
spectrum, blue to red to back
(no light).

Life Cycle of the Sun

Life Cycle of Stars

bigger than our Sun!

Stage 4 Red
Supergiant

Red Supergiant

Stage 5 - Supernova
The

largest and most

powerful explosions in the
universe.
The
red
supergiants
literally blow themselves
apart!

Supernova

Stage 6 Black hole

After

the supernova a huge

mass is left behind.
There is so much mass its
gravity prevents even light
from leaving it
Black
holes can suck in
nearby
stars
and
solar
systems

Black Hole

Stars
Classification
Size
Temperature
Color

Spectral Colour
Color

tells the temperature

of the star
Hot stars are bluish/white
and
cooler
stars
are
reddish/orange
Astronomers call this a stars
spectral
class.
Spectral
classes are O, B, A, F, G, K,
and M

End!!!!!