How big is a star?

Some stars are called supergiants, the star Antares is 700 times bigger than the sun. The sun is basically 1,392, 530 kilometers across, which is 109 times more than the earth's diameter.

There is a star in the constellation of Auriga that may be 3,oo0 million kilometers in diameter or 4,000 million time bigger than the sun.

What is a star?

Stars are hug balls of burning gas that are scattered throughout the Universe. For millions of years they burn, thus giving light and heat. These stars produce energy by a process called nuclear fusion. The temparatures of the stars varies from 3500 degress centigrade to over 40,000 degress centigrade.

Stars are actually born when gas and dust are draw together by gravity, forming a huge clump. When it heats up, fusion begins and the new stars appears.

How does gravity work?

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The law of gravity is like a magnet which pulls any matter or attracts any matter. Basically the force of gravity is the attraction between each piece of matter, even the smallest of particles.





The Sun's force of gravity holds the planet in its orbit, the Earth's gravity keeps the moon in its orbit.





The moon being a small object as compared to earth have weaker gravity. This explains why astronauts on the moon can jump high with very little effort.

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The Milky Way

(photo courtesy of www.atlasoftheuniverse.com)

The Solar System including the Earth is part of the Milky way. Commonly known as the Galaxy. It would take nearly 100,000 years for light to travel from one side to another side since the Galaxy is so huge.

For a detailed description and more images of our galaxy, click here

A star is born

Stars are usually born when huge masses of interstellar gas condense. This will eventually enlarge and their gravity will force the molecules together creating a fusion reaction. This will power the young star for millions of years.

How old is the Universe?

The age of the universe can be calculated by analyzing and measuring how fast distant galaxies are moving away from us. Though this may not be that accurate, but somehow this can give us a good impression of how old the universe actually is.

Based on the estimates of the scientist, the universe is about 13,000 million years old.

all matter in the Universe is flying out at enormous speed from the central point where the bigbang took place