Stars are luminous spheres made of plasma – a superheated gas threaded with a magnetic field. They are made mostly of hydrogen, which stars fuse in their cores. That process releases energy, which pushes against the weight of the outer layers of the star and keeps it stable.
People: Celebrity Deaths 2026: Paying Tribute to the Stars Who Died This Year
Celebrity Deaths 2026: Paying Tribute to the Stars Who Died This Year
Three weeks into the new year, the country music community has already mourned some heavy losses. Songwriter Jim McBride died on Jan. 6, marking the first true loss of the year within the country ...
Stars are giant balls of hot gas – mostly hydrogen, with some helium and small amounts of other elements. Every star has its own life cycle, ranging from a few million to trillions of years, and its properties change as it ages.
Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night; their immense distances from Earth make them appear as fixed points of light. The most prominent stars have been categorised into constellations and asterisms, and many of the brightest stars have proper names.
Stars such as Altair, Alpha Centauri A and B, and Procyon A are called dwarf stars; their dimensions are roughly comparable to those of the Sun. Sirius A and Vega, though much brighter, also are dwarf stars; their higher temperatures yield a larger rate of emission per unit area.
How are stars named? And what happens when they die? These star facts explain the science of the night sky.
What are stars, how do they form and die? Our guide packed with facts about stars and answers to some of the most commonly-asked questions.