STARS

A star is a nutural hot ball of gases in space which gives out its own heat and light. A star usually made up of almost entirely of hydrogen and helium. A stars gets its heat and light from thermonuclear reactions. A thermonuclear reactions happens when the hydrogen atoms of a star combine to form helium atoms. This process release plenty of heat and light.

One light yaer is the distance light travels in one year (Light travels at 300 000 km/s).
One light year = (300 000 x 60 x 60 24 365) km
                      = 9 460 800 000 000 km
                      = 9 500 000 000 000 km

After the Sun, the nearest star is Alpha Proxima. It is about 4.2 light years away and can only be seen through a telescope. Alpha Centauri is 4.3 light years away from the Earth, but it can be seen with the naked eye. Two very bright starts which can easily be indentified are Sirius and Rigel. In ancient times, travellers used stars to guide them in their journeys across the dessert and the seas.
Stars