STARS

A STAR IS….

 A ball of matter that is pulled together by gravity, and that

gives off energy as a result of NUCLEAR FUSION.
 Nuclear fusion- when two atoms bond together to make one
heavier atom. The process releases large amounts of energy.
1. COMPOSITION OF STARS

 The two most abundant elements

in stars are HYDROGEN and
HELIUM.
2. TEMPERATURE

 Scientists estimate the temperature of stars by the COLOR of

the star.

Hottest: Blue
White
Yellow
Orange
Coldest: Red
 3. MAGNITUDE

 The Brightness of a star depends on three things:

Size

Temperature

Distance from us
Apparent Magnitude: How bright a star is when viewed from

Earth. A very large, hot star could look dim just because it is so far away.
(how bright we see it)

Absolute Magnitude: the amount of light that is actually given

off by a star. (how bright it actually is)
4. MEASURING THE
DISTANCE TO STARS
 We measure the distance between objects in space using
PARALLAX.
 Parallax is the apparent change in position of a star in the
sky when viewed from two different positions in earth’s revolution.

 Thecloser a star is, the larger its parallax, or apparent

movement. The farther away a star is, the smaller its
parallax.
5. MEASURING DISTANCE IN SPACE

Light-Year- The DISTANCE that light can travel in one

year. 5,865,696,000,000 miles

Astronomical Unit (AU)- the distance

between the sun and the earth (93 million miles)
 6. CONSTELLATIONS
Constellations are patterns of stars in the sky.
 Circumpolar Constellations: Constellations that

appear to revolve around the North Star.

 Major constellations:

Orion
Big Dipper
 7. IMPORTANT STARS

Polaris: The North Star: The star

directly above the earth’s axis of
rotation, or the north pole. It appears
to stay in the same place all year,
and other constellations revolve
around it.

Alpha Centauri: Closest

star to us (other than the sun)