Index

Interstellar Clouds
Classes of Objects
Gas Giant Planets
Brown Dwarfs
Red Dwarfs
Sun-sized Stars
Large Stars
The Largest Stars
Impossible Stars
Star Clusters
Planetary Systems
Rocky Planets
An Endless Cycle

[1] - [2] - [3] - [4]

If the gas supply is sufficiently large, a sun-sized star forms. A sun-sized star supports nuclear fusion at a steady rate for billions of years. When all fusible hydrogen is exhausted, fusion of other elements begins, causing the star to expand into a Red Giant. As the supply of fusible elements is exhausted, the tenuous outer atmospheres drifts off into surrounding space to form a cloud of dust and gas called a Planetary Nebula. When all nuclear burning ceases, all that remains of the star is a very dense, very hot, spent core - a White Dwarf, an object with a sun-like mass condensed into an earth-sized body.