Life Cycle of Stars: Stability, Evolution, Properties

The life cycle of stars is one of the most fascinating and best-studied phenomena about the Universe. Our Universe is made up of galaxies. Each galaxy has billions of stars and planetary systems held together by mutual gravitational attraction. Galaxies can be of different types, namely, spiral, elliptical, and irregular. Our solar system is located in the Milky way (Mandakini) galaxy.

The Milky Way galaxy is spiral-shaped. It looks like a disc with a bulge at the centre. Our galaxy has 100 thousand million stars which are gigantic spheres of hot gas. This article will attempt to describe their nature, what makes them shine with their light or radio emission, are they moving in space and how we can learn more about them. We will deep dive into all these concepts as per the 8th Maharashtra Board syllabus.

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What are Stars?

Stars are everywhere in the Universe. They are gigantic balls of hot gas and dust. These are a source of light and heat that form the interstellar medium. Their origin is the interaction between interstellar clouds and gas, leading to new stars’ formation.

They can be divided into several categories depending on their composition: gaseous giants like our Sun, stellar remnants such as neutron stars or white dwarfs, as well as superfluid plasma clouds like the one blowing away from the enormous black hole at the centre of our Milky Way Galaxy.

There are approximately 10 billion stars in the Universe (which means ten billion billion billion), and there are more than 100 billion galaxies to go with that many stars!

Properties of Stars

Below we have listed properties of a star that will help students understand at a glance:

They are made up of hot gaseous matter and dust.
Humans can see about 4000 stars with their bare eyes at night.
The Sun is the closest one to our planet, earth. The Sun’s mass is about 3.3 lakh times that of the mass of the earth. The radius of the Sun is 100 times that of the radius of the earth.

How Are Stars Formed?

When large clouds of gas and dust (interstellar clouds) start to contract, their density and temperature increase. This phenomenon leads to the generation of dense spheres of hot gases while forming nuclear energy at the centre. Moreover, due to this phenomenon, the dense sphere becomes self-luminous, and thus there is the birth of a star.

Evolution of a Star

Although a star’s properties do not change for long periods, this situation is never static. However, a star does pass through different stages during its lifetime. This process is called the evolution of a star.

This evolution means that its properties change as time passes so that it passes through different stages. These changes are the result of the decrease in the amount of fuel at its core. They are constantly emitting energy. Therefore, they gradually lose energy and become less bright as they continue to emit energy. Stars with higher mass evolve faster than those with lower mass.

How to Effectively Practise?

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We hope this article helps you. If you have any academic queries, do reach out to us. Follow Embibe for more intriguing articles like these. Happy Learning!