WHAT IS A STAR?

At the centre of the Solar System is a gigantic ball of gas. This star is known as The Sun and generates just about all the heat and light of the Solar System. In a galaxy, there are billions of stars, and in the universe, there are countless numbers of galaxies. This means that there is an unimaginable number of stars throughout the universe. Some stars are older than others, some don't shine any longer, and some stars have not even been born yet. Some of the stars that we can see in the night sky don't even exist any longer!

A star is born in a cloud called a nebula. This cloud is full of very small gas, dust, rock and water particles. All of these particles collide with each other in this swirling cloud to form a Solar System. Most particles gather at the centre, heating up to form a star, and particles spinning in the cloud around the star combine with others to form planets, moons and asteroids. For the full instructions of how to make your very own Solar System, click here.

The main gas in a nebula is hydrogen, and this makes up most of the contents of a star and many other large planets. Stars creates their heat, light and energy by a process called thermonuclear fusion. The hydrogen in a star is turned into helium. This process results in a release of huge amounts of energy. It is also the idea behind the hydrogen bomb used in warfare on Earth. Basically, to create energy, two hydrogen nuclei (deuterium and tritium) fuse together to form a helium nuclei. This happens at temperatures of 10,000,000°c at the centre of the a star. It is this helium nuclei which causes the burst of energy which, in turn, creates the heat and the light of a star.

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