The Life Cycle of a Star Webquest:

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/stars/lifecycle/starbirth.shtml

The Birth of a Star:

1. What is a nebulae? ______________ _______________________________________________

2. Put these steps in order.

______ The gas and dust compresses into a slowly rotating ball.

______ The gas ball begins to spin faster and cool.

______ A star begins to form from clouds of hydrogen gas and dust.

______ The ball separate into a core and spinning disks.

3. How long can a star stay a protostar? ____________________________

4. Explain nuclear fusion. ____________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

5. How long does a star live before it begins to die? _______________________________

Sun-like stars.

*** Scroll back up and click on it.

6. How does a star like the sun become a Red Giant? _________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

7. Where does most of the mass of a red giant go when the star becomes a white

dwarf? _______________________________________________________________________________

8. The final stage of a medium sized star like the sun is a _________________________.

The death of a Huge Star:

*** Scroll back up and click on it.

9. What happens to a huge star when it becomes a red super giant? __________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________

10. The explosion of a red super giant creates a ___________________________________.

11. The final stages of a red super giant depend on the stars _____________________.

12. What happens to a star?

- Less than 3 times the size of the sun? _______________________________________

- Greater than 3 times the size of the sun? ___________________________________

13. How does a star become a black hole? ______________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

14. Could the Sun become a black hole? _______________________________________________

Life Cycle of a star Diagram: http://library.thinkquest.org/C0110277/stars/life_cycle1.htm

Draw the Diagram of the life cycle of a star use this link OR pg. 735 in your textbook.

Why do stars twinkle?

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/stars/twinkle.shtml

15. What is the scientific name for the twinkling of stars? ___________________________

16. Why do stars twinkle? ____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

17. Why don’t planets twinkle? _______________________________________________________

18. If you were in a spaceship would you be able to see a star twinkling? ____________

Why? ______________________________________________________________________________

The Closest Stars

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/stars/nearest.shtml

19. What is the closest star to Earth? ________________________

How far away is it? _______________________

20. What is the brightest star in the sky? ____________________________

21. Draw the constellation Canis Major and label the star Cirrus on your diagram.

Constellations

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/stars/constellations.shtml

22. How many constellations are in the sky? _________________________

23. ON THE BACK OF THIS PAPER: Look at the different constellations. Choose your three favorites. Draw a diagram of each and describe what it looks like.