ALL ABOUT STARS(: By kaylee cottrell

What is a star, really? A star is a massive, luminous ball of plasma held together by gravity.

How do stars form? Stars are made of very hot gas. The gas is mostly hydrogen and helium, the two lightest elements. Stars shine by burning hydrogen into helium in their cores. Later in their lives they create heavier elements. Most stars have small amounts of heavier elements like carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and iron, which were created by stars that lived before them. After a star runs out of fuel, it ejects much of its material back into space. New stars are formed from that material. That way, the material in stars is recycled.

THE SUN The sun is the largest star at the center of the solar system. Facts about the sun: -the sun is one out of billions of stars. -it is the closest star to earth. -the Sun rotates once every 27 days. -the Sun is now a middle-aged star, meaning it is at about the middle of its life. -it formed over four and a half billion years ago. -some people might believe the sun will die soon, but it will keep shining for at least another five billion years. -over one million earths could fit inside the Sun. -the moon does not give off light of its own, the sun gives light to the Moon when the moon reflects the sun’s light.

Are shooting stars really shooting stars? There actually not stars at all, there tiny bits of dust and rock called meteoroids falling into the earth's atmosphere and burning up. The trail of light the burning meteoroids produces is called a meteor. Meteors are usually called falling or shooting stars. If any part of the meteoroid survives burning up and hits the Earth, the remaining bit is called a meteorite.