STARS
Every night you see them. You may not even pay attention to them, but they are there...stars. Trillions of them. Yep, TRILLIONS. And that's just in a single galaxy! If you do look at them, what do you notice about them? Are they all the same? How far away are they? Are they all like the sun? What happens when they die?
The answers will be uncovered as we explore these crazy nuclear reactors. Let's start with a quick physics lesson about the electromagnetic spectrum...
The answers will be uncovered as we explore these crazy nuclear reactors. Let's start with a quick physics lesson about the electromagnetic spectrum...
ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM
Stars are basically balls of hydrogen gas undergoing fusion to create helium. This, as you all ready know, creates A LOT of energy. This energy is released as different waves on the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS). The energy we can see from stars appears as visible light, but most of the energy a star releases is impossible for us to see. The graphic to the right shows the electromagnetic spectrum, notice that visible light is just a TINY part of the spectrum.
NASA has an excellent site on the EMS, click the link below to check it out (or remember to come back to it if you get confused later!) |
By studying the visible light from stars, scientists can figure out what elements are present. Below, is the absorbtion spectrum of visisble light from the sun
|
CLASSIFYING STARS
View the following slideshow to see how scientists classify stars
|
You saw how big the sun is compared to the planets on the Solar System page, so how big is it compared to other stars in the universe?
|
Check out the graphic below to see how the closest stars to us compare. Click the picture to view the entire page, and a special thanks to Justin for sending me this resource!
TYPES OF STARS
Click on each type of star to learn more about it
______________________MAIN SEQUENCE STARS_______________________
Red Dwarfs Yellow Dwarfs Blue Giants Red Giants & Supergiants White Dwarfs
Red Dwarfs Yellow Dwarfs Blue Giants Red Giants & Supergiants White Dwarfs
WHEN STARS DIE
All stars eventually run out of fuel. Depending on the size of the star, it either goes out with a fizzle or a BANG! The "remains" of stars could end up forming yet another star...and so on, and so on...The slideshow below outlines some of the more spectacular ways a star can "die." Then, you can start the assignment that ties all of this together...Lucky!!!