…Space Facts
VISTA telescope image of the Helix Nebula about 700 light years away.
(ESO/VISTA/J. Emerson Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit cc3.0)
Quick Facts
Stars are balls of heated gas called plasma. These particles are held together by gravity, the same force that prevents you from floating into space.
Stars consist of 71% hydrogen, 27% helium, and a tiny percentage of heavy elements like iron.
Stars shine through a process called thermonuclear fusion.
During this process, the hydrogen in the core of the star is transformed into another gas called helium. When this happens, the star releases energy that is converted into bright light, infra-red energy (heat), ultraviolet light, and radio waves.
(Taken from 101 Facts… Stars by IC Stars & IP Factly)
Stars are featured in the following books:
101 Facts… The Solar System
101 Facts… Stars
101 Facts.. Space
Video Playlist
The YouTube video playlist below contains videos about the stars. Details of the videos featured are underneath.
The Playlist:
- NASA | A Young Star Flaunts its X-ray Spots
- NASA | Take a “Swift” Tour of the Andromeda Galaxy
- NASA | Colliding Neutron Stars Create Black Hole and Gamma-ray Burst
- NASA | Exoplanet Atmosphere Blasted by Stellar Flare
- Parabolia – Black Holes, Neutron Stars, White Dwarfs, Space and Time
Computer simulations of awesome star moments - Hypernovas and Black Holes – Death Star – BBC Science
- Neutron stars – Death Star – BBC Horizon science
- Massive explosion in deep space – Death Star – BBC Horizon science
- The Beauty Of Stars Being Born – SpaceRip
- Exploding Stars – SpaceRip
- Cosmic Journeys: Birth of a Black Hole -SpaceRip
More space video playlists include:
The Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, The Moon (& other moons), Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Beyond Neptune, Asteroid Belt, Comets, Black Holes, Dwarf Planets and Stars.
A full list of space videos can be found at ipfactly.com/space-videos
