What is life cycle of a star ? #viralvideo #spacesuccess #astrophysics #sciencepassion #astronomy

Stages of a Star's Life Cycle:
1. Nebula:
Stars are born in vast, cold clouds of gas and dust called nebulae. These clouds contain the raw materials for new stars, primarily hydrogen and helium.
2. Protostar:
Within a nebula, a dense cloud of gas and dust can collapse under its own gravity, forming a protostar. As the protostar collapses, it heats up and starts to spin, eventually becoming hot enough to begin nuclear fusion.
3. Main Sequence:
Once the protostar reaches a temperature of 15 million degrees, nuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium begins in its core, marking the start of the main sequence stage. During this stage, the star is in a stable state, with the inward pull of gravity balanced by the outward pressure of fusion. The duration of the main sequence stage depends on the star's mass, with more massive stars burning through their fuel faster.
4. Red Giant:
As the core of a main sequence star exhausts its hydrogen fuel, it shrinks and heats up, while the outer layers expand and cool, turning the star into a red giant. The red giant stage is a brief but dramatic period in a star's life, as the star swells to enormous sizes.
5. Final Stages (depending on mass):
White Dwarf: Low-to-medium mass stars like our Sun will eventually shed their outer layers, leaving behind a dense, hot core called a white dwarf. The white dwarf will continue to cool and fade over billions of years, eventually becoming a black dwarf.
Supernova: High-mass stars end their lives in a spectacular supernova explosion, where the star collapses under its own gravity and releases an enormous amount of energy.
Neutron Star: The core of a supernova can collapse further into a neutron star, an incredibly dense object with a radius of just a few kilometers.
Black Hole: In some cases, the core of a supernova can collapse into a black hole, an object with such strong gravity that nothing, not even light, can escape.
Factors Influencing Star Life Cycle:
Mass:
A star's mass is the primary factor determining its life cycle, as it influences the duration of each stage and the final outcome.
Fuel Consumption:
As a star fuses hydrogen into helium and then into heavier elements, it consumes its fuel, eventually leading to its demise.
Gravity:
Gravity plays a crucial role in the collapse of clouds of gas and dust, the formation of protostars, and the final stages of a star's life, including supernovae and the formation of black holes.
Stellar evolution - Wikipedia
Depending on the mass of the star, its lifetime can range from a few million years for the most massive to trillions of years for ...

Wikipedia
The Life Cycles of Stars: How Supernovae Are Formed
A star's life cycle is determined by its mass. The larger its mass, the shorter its life cycle. A star's mass is determined by the...

Imagine the Universe!
BBC Bitesize - The formation and life cycle of stars
Gravity and nuclear fusion reactions drive the formation and development of stars. ... If massive enough, these can collapse under...