• Question: What exactly are stars?

    Asked by anon-226048 to Heidi, joannabarstow on 14 Nov 2019. This question was also asked by anon-226534, anon-225911.
    • Photo: Heidi

      Heidi answered on 14 Nov 2019:

      First of all, this is a great video made by the National Space Centre in Leicester which is shown in their planetarium – it explains how stars are made and the life cycle of stars in a really entertaining way! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2U_1oeFMZbs

      But, as a quick explanation, stars are huge balls of superheated gas (which we call plasma), made mainly of hydrogen and helium. Stars are formed by the collapse of huge clouds of gas. When the gas is compressed, it heats up and transforms into plasma, and it begins to emit light, which we see as a star!

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