Stars and Sun Vocab 101

Front

Protostar

Back

Gas particles collide, generating heat, forming a clump as gas and dust in a nebula condense.

Front

Giant gas cloud where a star forms

Back

Stellar Nebula

Front

Carbon and iron can fuse in what type of star?

Back

Super Red Giant

Front

All hydrogen in the star converts to helium; the core collapses and the star expands, but iron and carbon do not fuse.

Back

Red Giant

Front

Black Hole

Back

Largest stars exhaust fusion atoms, collapse under gravity, trapping everything, even light.

Front

A massive star can collapse and become an extremely dense, hot, and bright star... almost like a mini explosion, but still a star-shaped heat ball.

Back

Neutron Star

Front

White Dwarf

Back

A smaller star runs out of atoms to fuse, its core becomes carbon and oxygen, leading to shrinkage, cooling, and fading.

Front

Gravity compression and nuclear fusion are balanced to shape the star for nearly 10 billion years.

Back

Main Sequence

Front

A star runs out of fuel, collapses, and explodes into a planetary nebula. Elements heavier than iron are formed in the explosion.

Back

Supernova

Front

Fusion of heavier elements in a star involves converting hydrogen to helium, leading to core collapse and expansion, creating more than just H and He.

Back

All hydrogen in a super massive star is converted to helium, the core collapses, and the star expands, creating more than just H and He.