Life Cycle of Star – A story | Planetarium Technology

The life and death of star in the universe is a question that remains unanswered.

We certainly know that our universe exists, however, this knowledge alone has not satisfied mankind’s quest for further understanding. Our curiosity has led us to question our place in this universe and furthermore, the place of the universe itself. Throughout time we have asked ourselves these questions: How did our universe begin? How old is our universe? What is the story about life and death of star in the universe? Obviously, these are not simple questions and much of what we know is still only speculation.

We have, however, come a long way from the mystical beginnings of the study of cosmology and the origins of the universe. Through the understandings of modern science we have been able to provide firm theories for some of the answers we once called hypotheses. True to the nature of science, a majority of these answers have only led to more intriguing and complex questions. It seems to be inherent in our search for knowledge that questions will always continue to exist.  Although in this short article an attempt is made to address certain fundamental questions of life and death of star in the universe.

Life of stars

Stars are large balls of hot gas, they look small because they are a long way away, but in fact many stars are bigger and brighter than the sun. The heat of the star is made in the centre by nuclear fusion reactions. There are lots of different colors and sizes of star.

There are two main life cycles for stars, and almost all stars can fit into one or the other. The determining factor for categorizing the star is its mass. Any star less than about three solar masses (one solar mass is the mass of our sun ) will spend almost all of its life transiting what is called the “Main Sequence.” About 90% of all stars are like this. If a star is above the crucial value of three solar masses when it is born, it will spend much less time on the Main Sequence, have a much shorter life span, and it will die much more violently, creating either a neutron star or black hole (1).

During the major part of their lives, most stars on the Main Sequence will create their energy by the process of hydrogen fusion – the process of fusing two hydrogen atoms to create one helium atom. Energy is created because a helium atom weighs slightly less than the two hydrogen atoms, and the excess mass is converted into energy, as related by Einstein’s famous equation E=mc2. Our sun is currently in this stage of converting hydrogen to helium.

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