Stars, the fiery hearts of galaxies, are more than just pinpricks of light. They are cosmic furnaces where elements are forged. A star's life begins in a stellar nursery—a cloud of gas and dust. Gravity pulls this material inward, increasing temperature and pressure until nuclear fusion ignites. This process, converting hydrogen to helium, releases the immense energy we see as starlight.

Different stars live drastically different lives. Small, dim stars like red dwarfs burn their fuel slowly, potentially lasting trillions of years. Our own Sun is a middle-aged, medium-sized star, destined to become a red giant before gently fading into a white dwarf.

Massive stars, however, live fast and die spectacularly. They consume their fuel in just a few million years, ending their lives in a breathtaking supernova explosion. These cataclysmic events scatter heavy elements, like gold and iron, across the cosmos, providing the very building blocks for new stars, planets, and even life itself. Every atom in your body, save for the lightest ones, was once forged inside a star.

Would you like to explore the life cycle of a specific type of star, like a supernova?