Scientists and philosophers may debate about whether stars are living or nonliving, but, in any case, stars have life cycles! Stars are born, and stars die!
In this episode of BYJU’s celestial wonders, we explore the life cycle of a high-mass star. Interestingly, what different stages a star goes through, depends on different factors. The life journey of one star may be very different from the life journey of another star.
A high-mass star like Betelgeuse, for example, has a very dramatic star life.
Stars are born in giant clouds of dust and gases, like hydrogen and helium, called a nebula.
At some point, they have enough mass and gravity that the atoms are brought closer together.
When they are really close, a process called nuclear fusion begins. Here, more energy is generated. This energy makes the star shine!
But this energy acts opposite to gravity. Inward gravity and outward nuclear energy keep the star stable for some time.
When matter is used up, gravity overpowers and makes the star collapse.
Betelgeuse collapses with an explosion becoming a supernova!
The supernova changes either into a black hole or a neutron star depending on its mass again!
The life cycle of a star depends on its mass. While massive stars gradually end as blackholes or neutron stars, some average stars end as white dwarfs.
Learn more celestial wonders and dive into the mysterious space with BYJU’s celestial wonders!
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