Star

For at least a portion of its life, a star shines due to thermonuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium in its core, releasing energy that traverses the star's interior and then radiates into outer space. Very low mass stars, with masses below 0.5, are fully convective and distribute helium evenly throughout the whole star while on the main sequence. Therefore, they never undergo shell burning, never become red giants, which cease fusing and become helium white dwarfs and slowly cool after exhausting their hydrogen. However, as the lifetime of stars is longer than the age of the universe, no such star has yet reached the white dwarf stage.

The oldest accurately dated star chart was the result of ancient Egyptian astronomy in 1534 BC. The earliest known star catalogues were compiled by the ancient Babylonian astronomers of Mesopotamia in the late 2nd millennium BC, during the Kassite Period (c. 1531–1155 BC).

Astronomers can determine the mass, age, metallicity (chemical composition), and many other properties of a star by observing its motion through space, its luminosity, and spectrum respectively.

The total mass of a star is the main factor that determines its evolution and eventual fate.

Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin first proposed that stars were made primarily of hydrogen and helium in her 1925 PhD thesis.

For at least a portion of its life, a star shines due to thermonuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium in its core, releasing energy that traverses the star's interior and then radiates into outer space.

Very low mass stars, with masses below 0.5, are fully convective and distribute helium evenly throughout the whole star while on the main sequence. Therefore, they never undergo shell burning, never become red giants, which cease fusing and become helium white dwarfs and slowly cool after exhausting their hydrogen. However, as the lifetime of stars is longer than the age of the universe, no such star has yet reached the white dwarf stage.

Medieval Islamic astronomers gave Arabic names to many stars that are still used today and they invented numerous astronomical instruments that could compute the positions of the stars.

It is a function of the star's luminosity, its distance from Earth, the extinction effect of interstellar dust and gas, and the altering of the star's light as it passes through Earth's atmosphere.

The temperature is normally given in terms of an effective temperature, which is the temperature of an idealized black body that radiates its energy at the same luminosity per surface area as the star.

List of largest known stars

Stars range in size from neutron stars, which vary anywhere from 20 to 40 km in diameter, to supergiants like Betelgeuse in the Orion constellation, which has a diameter about 1,000 times that of our sun.

These pre-main-sequence stars are often surrounded by a protoplanetary disk and powered mainly by the conversion of gravitational energy.

A multi-star system consists of two or more gravitationally bound stars that orbit each other.

With a mass only 80 times that of Jupiter, 2MASS J0523-1403 is the smallest known star undergoing nuclear fusion in its core.

A star is type of astronomical object consisting of a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its own gravity.

A star is type of astronomical object consisting of a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its own gravity.

A star is type of astronomical object consisting of a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its own gravity.

A star is type of astronomical object consisting of a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its own gravity.

The nearest star to Earth is the Sun.

The nearest star to Earth is the Sun.

Many other stars are visible to the naked eye from Earth during the night, appearing as a multitude of fixed luminous points in the sky due to their immense distance from Earth.

Historically, the most prominent stars were grouped into constellations and asterisms, the brightest of which gained proper names.

Historically, the most prominent stars were grouped into constellations and asterisms, the brightest of which gained proper names.

Astronomers have assembled star catalogues that identify the known stars and provide standardized stellar designations.