CONSTELLATION

TABLE OF
CONTENTS
1
2 THE
WHAT IS
WHAT IS A
CHARACTERISTICS OF A
STAR?
STARS?
STAR
 STAR
Stars are the most widely recognized astronomical objects,
and represent the most fundamental building blocks of
galaxies. The age, distribution, and composition of the
stars in a galaxy trace the history, dynamics, and evolution
of that galaxy. Moreover, stars are responsible for the
manufacture and distribution of heavy elements such as
carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen, and their characteristics are
intimately tied to the characteristics of the planetary
systems that may coalesce about them. Consequently, the
study of the birth, life, and death of stars is central to the
field of astronomy.
 STAR

A star is an astronomical object comprising a

luminous spheroid of plasma held together by
self-gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun.
Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at
night, but their immense distances from Earth
make them appear as fixed points of light.
 STAR
A star is a luminous ball of gas, mostly hydrogen and
helium, held together by its own gravity. Nuclear fusion
reactions in its core support the star against gravity and
produce photons and heat, as well as small amounts of
heavier elements.
WHAT IS THE
CHARACTERIS
TICS OF A
STAR?
 What is the
characteristics of a star
Like the Sun, all starsare huge spheres of glowing
gas. They are made up mostly of hydrogenand
some helium, and they produce their energy by
nuclear fusion. Nuclear fusionis the process where
two atoms of hydrogen fuse together to form an
atom of helium. This process releases a
tremendous amount of energy and makes stars
shine brightly.Astronomers classify stars according
to their physical characteristics
 What is the
characteristics of a star
A star is a massive ball of plasma that emits light
throughout the universe. While there is only one
star in our solar system, there are billions upon
billions of stars throughout our galaxy and
exponentially more in the billions of galaxies in the
universe. A star can be defined by five basic
characteristics: brightness, color, surface
temperature, size and mass.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF A STAR
TEMPERATU
COLOR RE BRIGHTNESS SIZE

MASS SURFACE TEMPERATURE

COLOR AND TEMPERATURE
If you look up in the night sky, you can see slight differences
in the colors of stars. Like hot objects on Earth, a star’s color
reveals its surface temperature. If you watch a toaster heat
up, the wires inside glowred hot. The wires inside a light
bulb are even hotter and glow white. Stars are the same.
The coolest stars, with a surface temperature of about
3,000oC appear reddish. The hottest stars, with surface
temperatures over 20,000oC appear bluish-white
 SIZE
The stars in the sky all appear to be points of light
of the same size. Many stars are actually the
same size of the Sun, which is a medium-sized
star. However, some stars are much larger and are
called giantand supergiantstars. Most starsare
much smaller than the Sun. Black and white
dwarf starsare about the size of Earth. Neutron
starsare even smaller, only about 20 km in
diameter
 BRIGHTNESS
The brightness of a star depends on both its size and its
temperature. How bright a star looks from Earth
depends on both its distance and how bright the star
actually is. The brightness of a star can be described in 2
different ways: apparent brightness and absolute
brightness. A star’s apparent brightnessis its brightness
as seen fromEarth. Astronomers can measure apparent
brightness easily, using devices similar to those used by
photographers. However, apparent brightness does not
take into account how far away a star is from Earth. A
star’s absolute brightnessis the brightness the star would
have if all stars were the same standard distance form
Earth. This allows astronomers to compare the
brightness of all stars.
 MASS
A star's mass is also measured in terms of our own sun,
with 1 equal to the size of our sun. For instance, Rigel,
which is much larger than our sun, has a mass of 3.5 solar
masses. Two stars of a similar size may not necessarily have
the same mass, as stars can vary greatly in density.
SURFACE TEMPERATURE
Astronomers measure a star's temperature on
the Kelvin scale. Zero degrees on the Kelvin
scale is theoretically absolute and is equal to -
273.15 degrees Celsius. The coolest, reddest
stars are approximately 2,500 K, while the
hottest stars can reach 50,000 K. Our sun is
about 5,500 K.