Do stars burn hydrogen or helium?

Stars shine by burning hydrogen into helium in their cores, and later in their lives create heavier elements. Most stars have small amounts of heavier elements like carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and iron, which were created by stars that existed before them.

What kind of star burns helium?

Supergiants have the shortest lifespans of any star, as the temperatures in a supergiant’s core get so high that it is able to fuse the helium that is left over after hydrogen burning has stopped. This helium burning process fuses helium atoms into carbon atoms, which then begin to build up at the center of the core.

What happens when stars burn helium?

After helium burning begins (either explosively with a flash, or gradually for heavier stars), the star has two sources of energy, hydrogen fusion in a shell around the core and helium fusion in the core. Helium burns into carbon, and carbon combines with helium to make oxygen.

Do stars use helium?

When the protostar starts fusing hydrogen, it enters the “main sequence” phase of its life. Stars on the main sequence are those that are fusing hydrogen into helium in their cores. The radiation and heat from this reaction keep the force of gravity from collapsing the star during this phase of the star’s life.

What do stars burn for fuel?

A star is a really hot ball of gas, with hydrogen fusing into helium at its core. Stars spend the majority of their lives fusing hydrogen, and when the hydrogen fuel is gone, stars fuse helium into carbon.

Can a star like our sun ever become a black hole?

No. Stars like the Sun just aren’t massive enough to become black holes. Instead, in several billion years, the Sun will cast off its outer layers, and its core will form a white dwarf – a dense ball of carbon and oxygen that no longer produces nuclear energy, but that shines because it is very hot.

What do stars use as fuel?

The energy source for all stars is nuclear fusion. Stars are made mostly of hydrogen and helium, which are packed so densely in a star that in the star’s center the pressure is great enough to initiate nuclear fusion reactions. In a nuclear fusion reaction, the nuclei of two atoms combine to create a new atom.

Do stars fuse iron?

Stars that have earned the title of “supergiant” are so massive and so hot that they begin fusing silicon to a solid core of iron. Once the star starts fusing iron, that’s it– it’s doomed.

Why do bigger stars burn out faster?

The mass of a star plays a role in how long it takes to “burn” through the fuel. More massive stars use their fuel faster because it takes more energy to counteract the larger gravitational force. (Or, put another way, the larger gravitational force causes the atoms to collide together more rapidly.)