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Its total mass mainly determines its evolution and eventual fate. A star shines for most of its active life due to the thermonuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium in its core. This process releases energy that traverses the star's interior and radiates into outer space.
Star, any massive self-luminous celestial body of gas that shines by radiation derived from its internal energy sources. This article describes the properties and evolution of individual stars.
A star’s gas provides its fuel, and its mass determines how rapidly it runs through its supply, with lower-mass stars burning longer, dimmer, and cooler than very massive stars.
When a high-mass star runs out of hydrogen, it begins converting carbon into other elements such as oxygen, magnesium, and neon. These new elements become the star’s fuel, which prevents the star from collapsing for longer. This entire process generally lasts a few million years.
A star that consumes hydrogen to form helium is called a "main-sequence" star for all the time it is a hydrogen-fusing object. When it uses up all its fuel, the core contracts because the outward radiation pressure is no longer enough to balance the gravitational force.
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A star in the main sequence is in a state of hydrostatic equilibrium. Gravity is pulling the star inward, and the light pressure from all the fusion reactions in the star are pushing outward. The inward and outward forces balance one another out, and the star maintains a spherical shape.