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Cole Spitzer
Mr. Ratica
Microsoft Apps

Stars and How They Differ from our Sun

Our sun is the star in the sky we see every day and know what it does and looks like.
But what about other stars? The stars we see in the night sky so far away look different up
close. Those stars do different things. They look different compared to our sun.
Dwarf Stars are the smallest of the stars the most common of them is the Red Dwarf. It
appears red and range from being to be about 7.5 to 50% as massive as our sun. Red Dwarfs
burn at maximum temperatures of 5,000 degrees Celsius (Martin Rees, 166). Our sun in
comparison burns up to 27 million degrees Celsius. Brown Dwarfs are the smallest coolest
dwarf stars and the burn even less than a red dwarf. (Rees 123) (Redd)
Supergiants are the next star, it is the largest type and there are only two types of them.
The 2 types of Supergiants are Red Supergiants and White-Blue Supergiants. Rigel is one of
the largest known white-blue Supergiants. Its diameter is 75 times that of the sun. (James
Kaler, 123). V-Y Cannis Majoris is the largest known star in existence and is known as a class
of star called a Hypergiant. It is estimated to be 3,600 times larger than our sun. When V-Y
Cannis Majoris dies instead of forming a Supernova (A star that suddenly increases greatly in
brightness because of a catastrophic explosion that ejects most of its mass) it is expected to
form a Hypernova (a large, very energetic supernova that is believed to be a source of intense
gamma-ray emissions). (Villanueva) (Rees)
Dark stars are the theoretical idea of stars that use dark matter as fuel. These stars are
suggested to be the first stars that formed in the universe and they gave off no light. They are

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proposed to look like black holes but not actually be black holes. We might be able to see them
as they pass in front of other celestial bodies and eclipse them. Even then some theorize that
they are invisible to the naked eye and can only be detected by scanning for gamma rays or
emission of anti-matter. (Dark stars)
Pulsars are stars that are dead relics of massive stars and they are extremely magnetic
and spin around at high speeds. Neutron Stars are a sub-class of pulsars. Neutron Stars are
formed after a star undergoes gravitational collapse and protons and electrons are literally
scrunched together. They have a high gravitational, magnetic, and electrical field. A neutron
star generates a gravitational pull so powerful that a marshmallow impacting the star's surface
would hit with the force of a thousand hydrogen bombs. A sub-class of Neutron Stars are
Magnetars they have a magnetic field more much more powerful than a Neutron star but other
than that they are pretty much the same. (Naeye) (NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center)
(Cain, Pulsars)
This essay showed stars and the many ways they differ from our sun. It showed what
they look like up close. It showed the different colors of stars and there sizes. It showed the
different functions of them and what they do.

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Works Cited
Cain, Fraser. Pulsars. 21 November 2013. Website. 24 February 2016.
<http://www.universetoday.com/25376/pulsars/>.
. Types of stars. 28 January 2009. Website. 24 February 2016.
<http://www.universetoday.com/24299/types-of-stars/>.
Dark stars. 5 February 2016. Website. 24 February 2016.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_star_(dark_matter)>.
Kaler, James. "extreme stars at the edge of creation." Kaler, James. extreme stars at the edge of
creation. 2001. 123. print.
Naeye, Robert. Nuetron stars. 7 August 2007. Website. 24 February 2016.
<http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/GLAST/science/neutron_stars.html>.
NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center, Marshall Space Flight Center and Goddard Space Flight
Center. Magnetars. 2 February 2004. website. 24 February 2016.
<http://www.nasa.gov/missions/deepspace/f_magnetars.html>.
Redd, Nola Taylor. Red Dwarf Stars. 27 November 2013. Website. 24 February 2016.
<http://www.space.com/23772-red-dwarf-stars.html>.
Rees, Martin. "the illustrated encyclopedia of the universe." rees, martin. the illustrated
encyclopedia of the universe. 2002. 166. print.
Villanueva, John. VY Cannis Majoris. 8 September 2009. website. 24 February 2016.
<http://www.universetoday.com/39472/vy-canis-majoris/>.