Star Astronomy

Star astronomy is a fascinating subject, star astronomy explains how stars are ‘born’, their ‘life’, composition and their classification.

Stars are formed by clouds of dust and gases which are under gravitational forces and begin as a protostar. The protostars continue to collapse and form as main sequence stars. As the star grows older it expands, due to it running out of hydrogen and helium which makes the core contract which expands the outer layers. The outer layers cool and begin to dim. This type of star is a red star which will collapse and explode to become a black dwarf, a neutron star or black hole depending on its original mass.

Stars are not all the same temperature and they also absorb different elements, they are classified by their spectra and temperature. The seven main types of star are classified in order of decreasing temperature and known by the letters O, B, A, F, G, K, and M. O and B stars are bright but not very common and stars which are classified M are common but dim in appearance.

The majority of stars in star constellations, including the sun, are main sequence stars which are fuelled by converting hydrogen into helium; this is known as nuclear fusion. The hotter these stars the brighter they are. Stars in this form usually last for approximately five billion years.

Once a star has used up their supply of hydrogen they become giants or super-giants and explode into planetary nebula and eventually they become white dwarfs, neutron stars or supernova depending on their mass.

Small stars, like the sun, will become hot, white, dim stars, white dwarfs, turning eventually into black dwarfs as they get colder and darker.

Star astronomy uses a whole host of scientific names to describe the different effects stars have, for example stars appear to twinkle when seen from earth, which is because they are being seen through thick layers of moving air in the earth’s atmosphere, and is known to astronomers as stellar scintillation or astronomical scintillation.

There are a vast array of different star charts which are used to plot the movement and the sequences of stars. Star are ‘born’ and ‘die’ in huge quantities are tracked and monitored by astronomers all over the world. Star astronomy is also a popular amateur hobby for many people of all ages throughout the world, however, man made light pollution prevents a great number of people from being able to see all but the brightest of the stars within our solar system.