Table of Contents
What is it called when a star grows?
Stellar evolution is the process by which a star changes over the course of time. Depending on the mass of the star, its lifetime can range from a few million years for the most massive to trillions of years for the least massive, which is considerably longer than the age of the universe.
What is the beginning stage of a star called?
protostar
Gravity can pull some of the gas and dust in a nebula together. The contracting cloud is then called a protostar. A protostar is the earliest stage of a star’s life. A star is born when the gas and dust from a nebula become so hot that nuclear fusion starts.
What are the 9 stages of a star?
The formation and life cycle of stars
- A nebula. A star forms from massive clouds of dust and gas in space, also known as a nebula.
- Protostar. As the mass falls together it gets hot.
- Main sequence star.
- Red giant star.
- White dwarf.
- Supernova.
- Neutron star or black hole.
What causes a supernova?
When the pressure drops low enough in a massive star, gravity suddenly takes over and the star collapses in just seconds. This collapse produces the explosion we call a supernova. Supernovae are so powerful they create new atomic nuclei.
What creates a black hole?
Most black holes form from the remnants of a large star that dies in a supernova explosion. (Smaller stars become dense neutron stars, which are not massive enough to trap light.) When the surface reaches the event horizon, time stands still, and the star can collapse no more – it is a frozen collapsing object.
How does a star form into a sun like star?
The illustration shows the six steps of star formation for Sun-like stars. The process starts on (A), where gas and dust in the space between stars (also called the interstellar medium, ISM) collapse into a dense ball of gas called a prestellar core (B) that eventually will become the sun.
How is the size of a StAR related to its life cycle?
The larger its mass, the shorter its life cycle. A star’s mass is determined by the amount of matter that is available in its nebula, the giant cloud of gas and dust from which it was born.
How does a star become a birth star?
Birth – Stars start out in giant clouds of dust called nebulae. Gravity forces the dust to bunch together. As more and more dust bunches up, gravity gets stronger and it starts to get hot and becomes a protostar. Once the center gets hot enough, nuclear fusion will begin and a young star is born.
What do you call a star that stops growing?
The glowing cloud of gas is now known as a protostar. The protostar continues to grow. Once it stops growing, it is known as a main sequence star. A main sequence star can shine for millions of years or more.