• Question: what happens when the stars burst

    Asked by sophiedobbins to Colm, Eoin, Joseph, Lauren on 13 Nov 2013.
    • Photo: colm bracken

      colm bracken answered on 13 Nov 2013:


      Good question sophiedobbins,
      Some large stars do explode at the end of their lives in an event called a supernova. When they use up all their Hydrogen fuel there is no firey force to push back against gravity, so they suddenly get crushed and then explode. The stars material then gets thrown out into space where it might eventually become material for a new generation of stars. The sun will not go supernova as it is too small. It will die as a red giant star, much more calmly. This will happen in about 5 billion years!

    • Photo: Joseph Roche

      Joseph Roche answered on 21 Nov 2013:


      This is the most exciting time in a star’s life. As a star dies it goes through some pretty dramatic processes. .Once it runs out of fuel it cannot support itself against its own gravity so it starts collapsing. This can cause outbursts and explosions and the star will temporarily swell to giant-size before it collapses further. It’s truly spectacular 🙂

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