The Life of a Star

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_life_of_Sun-like_stars.jpg

A star is a huge sphere of very hot glowing gas. When stars are grouped together we call them constellations. The big dipper is constellation that we see often.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Big_dipper_from_the_kalalau_lookout _at_the_kokee_state_park_in_hawaii.jpg

The Sun is the only star in our solar system

All eight planets, comets, and an asteroid belt,

revolve around the Sun.

The Sun is a yellow, medium sized star.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Yohkohimage.gif

 Stars are classified according

to their temperature and brightness. Hot Stars are Blue or White Cooler Stars are Red or Orange

 A young star is called a dwarf star

They can be colored red, yellow, or

white.
Our Sun is a yellow dwarf

Older Stars are called Supergiants

They can be colored red or blue.

Our Sun is an average star. The chart below shows the lifecycle of our sun over billions of years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Solar_Life_Cycle.svg

Star are formed from giant clouds of dust and gas. Then, from gravity, the cloud collapses into a rotating gaseous ball. Once the new star gets hot enough it will begin to create energy from a process called nuclear fission. This created energy allows the star to glow for billions of years.

The Eagle Nebula

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Eagle_nebula_pillars.jpg

 A Star dies when it runs out of

gases to burn. The Star will first expand into a red, super giant.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Betelgeuse_star_%28Hubble%29.jpg

 Then the Star will collapse and

explode.
This takes billions of years.

The size of the star determines

how long its life is.

The bigger the star the shorter the life.

The Crab Nebula

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Crab_Nebula.jpg

Picture References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_life_of_Sun-like_stars.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Big_dipper_from_the_kalalau_looko ut_at_the_kokee_state_park_in_hawaii.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Solar_Life_Cycle.svg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Yohkohimage.gif http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Eagle_nebula_pillars.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Crab_Nebula.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Betelgeuse_star_%28Hubble%29.jpg

Text References

"Ask an Astronomer for kids!." Ask an Astronomer for kids!. Web. 25 Feb 2010. . <http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/cosmic_kids/AskKids/star.shtml>. "Star Types." Zoom Astronomy. 2010. Enchanted Learning, Web. 1 Mar 2010. <http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/stars/startypes.shtml>.