Are Stars really little?All of us have heard about this nursery rhyme. It is none other than the famous "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". Because of this song, all of us think that stars are little. But now I am here to prove that you are wrong! Stars make their own light, just like our sun (the sun is a star too, in fact, it is the closest star to Earth). But the stars are extremely far away from our solar system that is why they seem to be very small to us, even though close up they are large. They reflect the light of the sun in the same way our moon reflects sunlight. Now you may be thinking...
What is a Star?
A star is a luminous ball of gas, mostly hydrogen and helium, held together by its own gravity. Nuclear fusion reactions in its core, support the star against gravity and produce photons and heat, as well as small amounts of heavier elements. Now we have learnt some basic information about stars. Don't hesitate! Let us dive in deeper!
A `Birthplace'
Do you know that new stars form within vast clouds of gas and dust, called nebulae? Some nebulae are bright while some are dark. Dark nebulae are made mostly of dust and so they blot out the light of stars behind them. hey look like dark
patches of starless sky.
Most nebulae can only be seen through a telescope, but you can see the nebula M42,with binoculars. It lies in Orion. This is how it looks like.
Now let us look at 2 different types of nebulas
1. Horse's Head Nebula.
Wow! This nebula looks like a horse's head, well that's how this nebula got its name! Amazing right? Is this a dark nebula or a bright nebula? Can you guess?
This dark nebula is silhouetted against a bright nebula.The Horse's Head also lies in the constellation Orion.You will need a powerful telescope to see this nebula.
2.Trifid Nebula
This bright nebula is the Trifid Nebula.The gases in it are so hot that they make the surrounding gas clouds glow in beautiful shades.Hydrogen glows pink,while oxygen glows green-blue.You will need a good telescope to see it.
Sneak peek into next blog........
Well,we have come to the end of this blog entry, but I am going to give you guys a peek into the next blog entry.Let us dive in!!
Starting off
Before stars begin to form in a nebula, the clouds of gases and dust swirl around and around.They then form into clumps which grow larger and larger...................Bye for now.Comment below on what you would like to see in the next blog.
