Life Cycle

Of a Star
By: Nobel Subedi
 Birth/Formation Of Star
Stars are born in the Nebula which is known as the nursery of Stars. They are
formed by clumps of dust particles which are pulled together by Gravity which
increases when more dust is brought together. By this process, eventually a star
is formed. When the temperature reaches about 8 x 10^6 degree celsius, it is
called protostar (pre-star stage). When temperature reaches 10^7 degree
celsius, nuclear fusion begins changing hydrogen into helium and a star is born.
 Lifespan Of a Star
The time that a star shines for depends upon the size of the star. Ie. A large star
uses up its fuel faster and shines only for a couple hundreds of thousands of
years. But a smaller star, for eg The Sun, requires less fuel to shine so it can
shine for millions, maybe billions of years.
 After Hydrogen runs out
Eventually, the hydrogen which powers the nuclear reactions inside a
star begins to run out. The star then enters the final phases of its
lifetime. All stars will expand, cool and change colour to become a red
giant. What happens next depends on how massive the star is.

A smaller star, like the Sun, will gradually cool down and stop glowing.
During these changes it will go through the planetary nebula phase, and
white dwarf phase. After many thousands of millions of years it will stop
glowing and become a black dwarf.
 Contd.
A massive star experiences a much more energetic and violent end. It
explodes as a supernova. This scatters materials from inside the star
across space. This material can collect in nebulae and form the next
generation of stars. After the dust clears, a very dense neutron star is
left behind. These spin rapidly and can give off streams of radiation,
known as pulsars.
If the star is especially massive, when it explodes it forms a black hole.
Thank You