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Questions tagged [stars]

Stars are astronomical bodies that are (usually) mainly composed of Hydrogen, Helium, and Lithium. They are massive enough that their gravity compresses the matter to the point where nuclear fusion occurs, which creates a lot of heat and tends to make stars output radiation along a blackbody curve. Typically the radiative output is significant in the visible spectrum making stars very bright objects.

Stars are astronomical bodies that are (usually) mainly composed of Hydrogen, Helium, and Lithium. They are massive enough that their gravity compresses the matter to the point where nuclear fusion occurs, which creates a lot of heat and tends to make stars output radiation along a blackbody curve. Typically the radiative output is significant in the visible spectrum making stars very bright objects.

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Why does the Sun's (or other stars') nuclear reaction not use up all its "fuel" immediately?

The temperature and pressure everywhere inside the Sun reach the critical point to start nuclear reactions - there is no reason for it to take such a long time to complete the reaction process. Just like a nuclear bomb will complete all the reaction…
user.3898215
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Why is there a scarcity of lithium?

One of the major impediments to the widespread adoption of electric cars is a shortage of lithium for the batteries. I read an article a while back that says that there is simply not enough lithium available on the entire planet to make enough…
Mason Wheeler
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Do solar systems typically spin in the same direction as their galaxy?

Is the net angular momentum vector of our solar system pointing in roughly the same direction as the Milky Way galaxy's net angular momentum vector? If yes or no, is that common for most stars in the galaxy?
Alex
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Photons from stars--how do they fill in such large angular distances?

It would seem that far-away stars are at such a distance that I should be able to take a step to the side and not have the star's photons hit my eye. How do stars release so many photons to fill in such great angular distances?
Shookster
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Why doesn't the nuclear fusion in a star make it explode?

I have a rather naive question. In stars such as the Sun, what prevents the whole thing exploding at once? Why is the nuclear fusion happening slowly? I can only assume that something about the fusion is fighting the gravity and slowing the fusion…
sku
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When a star becomes a black hole, does its gravitational field become stronger?

I've seen in a documentary that when a star collapses and becomes a black hole, it starts to eat the planets around. But it has the same mass, so how does its gravitational field strength increase?
xxxo
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Does a star need to be inside a galaxy?

Must a star belong to a galaxy, or could it be completely isolated? In case it can be isolated (not belong to a galaxy), could it have a planet orbiting around it?
cooper
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What is the farthest-away star visible to the naked eye?

My girlfriend and I were watching Cosmos, and something Carl Sagan said got us wondering what the farthest-away visible star is. Obviously "visible to the naked eye" is a fuzzy concept that might have many defensible answers, but hopefully not too…
Micah
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Why are stars white?

That is may be an easy question, but I am not a professional. The Sun is a star, and when I look at the Sun it is usually yellow. Why are stars in the sky at night white? I suppose it could be due to their distance. What is the explanation?
Alejandro
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Are neutrino stars theoretically possible?

Since neutrinos have a small mass and are affected by gravity, wouldn't it be theoretically possible to have such a large quantity of them so close to each other, that they would form a kind of a stellar object, i.e. one that would keep itself…
miikkas
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How many times has the matter in our Solar System been recycled from previous stars?

I've got a basic understanding of these facts: The Universe is a little over 13 billion years old. Our Galaxy is almost that old. Our Solar System is roughly 4.6 billion years old. The heavier elements (carbon, oxygen, etc...) are only produced by…
Clinton Pierce
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Could there be a star orbiting around a planet?

I wonder if there ever could be a star (really small) which may orbit around a planet (really big)?
Ashish P
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Do supernovae push neighboring stars outward?

I know that a supernova can mess up the heliosphere of nearby stars, but I'm wondering if it could physically push neighboring stars off their trajectories. It's fun to imagine all the stars surrounding a supernova being propelled outward and…
SlowMagic
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Metal-rich star formation

While discussing star formation on cosmological scales with some classmates, we mentioned the breakdown between the different stellar populations via metallicity: Population III: $Z = [{\rm Fe/H}] \lesssim -5$ Population II: $Z = [{\rm Fe/H}] \sim…
Kyle Kanos
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Can there be Electron and/or Proton Stars?

What happens to all of the electrons and protons in the material of a neutron star? Could there ever be an electron star or a proton star?
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