We all know one thing about the wonder we call stars and that our very own sun is in fact a star. What you may not know, is that the reason why the sun seems so enormous to us, is only due to the fact that it is the closest star to the earth. Here are the 3 interesting facts and wonders about stars you probably didn't know:
1. Stars are formed in dust clouds
The universe as we know it is mostly empty space (well as far as we know and are told). In this empty vast of space are galaxies, which are made up of a system of millions or billions of stars, together with gas and dust, held together by gravitational attraction.These galaxies are themselves fairly empty but in some regions though, possess giant clouds of dust and gas. After a very long time these clouds may become disturbed and one may smash into another. Perhaps a star nearby explodes. When a glob gets dense enough, its center becomes very hot. This heat is so intense it is hot enough to create a nuclear furnace and with this, a star is born. Stars are gluttonous wonders, as new stars gobble up anything nearby. So when all the dust and gas that are close enough are no more, the star's birth ends.
2. Stars range from small to gigantic
As mentioned above, the closest star to the earth is the Sun. Its nearness makes it easy for astronomers to study. Much of what we know about stars comes from what we actually have learned from studying the Sun. The Sun when compared to the earth is humongous. Its diameter is 1.4 million kilometers (~860,000 miles). This means that one could probably fit thousands of earth-sized planets inside it. The Sun is considered a "main sequence star"(Main sequence stars fuse hydrogen atoms to form helium atoms in their cores.) Some stars are thought to be at least 2000 times the size of the Sun. Just think about how big that is compared to our planet.
From the humongous to the tiny (in respects to the size of those huge stars) are the brown dwarf stars. These can be the size of a large planet for example Jupiter. They are really hard to see because they do not give off much light.
3. Color indicates a Star's temperature
Just as in the flame of a match/candle that possesses a range of colors, so do Stars have the same range. These colors indicate different temperature from hot yellow to hotter blue. This color range gives astronomers the ability to detect the surface temperature of stars. At first glance, stars may seem white but if you take a longer look at the night sky, you'll notice some stars are definitely not white. Some are deep red, such as the super giant Antares in the southern sky. You can see the many colors stars possess.
