The stars that make the night sky a magnificent place are massive celestial bodies, mostly hydrogen and helium, that produce light and heat in their cores. Except for the Sun, all the stars we see in the sky are light years away from Earth. They are the building blocks of galaxies that we know number in the billions in the universe. Although it’s impossible to know how many stars there are, astronomers think there are between 200 and 400 billion stars in our Milky Way galaxy alone.
Stars so far from Earth have been among the most curious subjects of mankind throughout history. Even when the information about the stars is the most limited, humanity has made various researches in order to reach more. Let’s take a closer look at the stars that formed for the first time in the ‘cosmic dawn’ event, which took place 250-300 million years after the Big Bang.
The most interesting facts about the stars:
- When we look at the sky, we can see up to 2000-2500 stars.
- Stars can be many colors
- there are too many stars
- When we look at a star, we actually see it in the past.
- The larger a star, the shorter its lifespan.
- The farthest star discovered is 28 billion light-years from us
- Stars don’t actually blink
- Most stars are found in pairs
When we look at the sky, we can see up to 2000-2500 stars.
It is impossible to see millions of stars in the sky at the same time on a dark night. This is because they are not bright enough and close enough for us to see them. The maximum number of stars a person can see in one night would be 2,000 to 2,500. With this. this person must have extremely good eyesight and be looking at the sky on an extremely clear night with no rays from the moon or any other source.
Stars can be many colors
The color of the stars we see in the sky can be in various colors, from red to white and blue. Stars with high temperatures, such as the sun, are yellowish-white in color. Stars with temperatures above 12,000 Kelvin are the hottest stars discovered and are blue in color. In other words, the temperature and color of any star are interrelated concepts.
there are too many stars
It is thought that there are about 200 to 400 billion stars in our Milky Way. Perhaps many of them have planets. It is estimated that there are about 500 billion in the entire universe, and each of these galaxies may be home to as many stars or more as the Milky Way. When we multiply these two numbers together, it turns out that there may be about 2 x 10ˆ23 stars in the Universe.
When we look at a star, we actually see it in the past.
Aristotle is thought to be the first scientist to state that the rays from the Sun must take some time to reach the Earth because it is so far away. Although light travels 300,000 kilometers per second, we cannot see light from stars that fast. It takes about eight minutes for light to reach Earth from the Sun. The rays from another star, Alpha Centauri, take about 4 light years to reach Earth, so we see it as it was four years ago. In fact, it may take decades before we see rays from some stars. In fact, the telescopes we use to see the stars actually allow us to look into the past. Another surprising piece of information is that we can still see stars that have been dead for several years. The reason for this is that the rays from the stars continue to reach the Earth.
The larger a star, the shorter its lifespan.
Some stars can have a mass of 150 times the Sun and emit an extraordinary amount of energy. For example, one of the most massive stars discovered is Eta Carinae, about 8,000 light-years from us. Studies have shown that this star has 150 times the mass of the Sun and emits about 4 million times more energy. The sun has been radiating energy for billions of years and will exist for billions more, while Eta Carinae has probably only existed for a few million years. And astronomers think that this star will experience a supernova explosion at any moment.
The farthest star discovered is 28 billion light-years from us
The stars we see when we look at the sky have vast distances. The closest star to Earth is Proxima Centauri, located 4.2 light-years away. Light from this star takes more than 4 years to reach Earth. If we were to go with the fastest spacecraft ever developed, we would have to travel more than 70,000 years. The farthest star is Earendel, captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. Located about 28 billion light-years from Earth, this star is named after the Lord of the Rings character.
Stars don’t actually blink
Light from a star passes through the Earth’s atmosphere, which has many layers with different densities. All this deflects light, changing its color and intensity. Especially as a result of aberrations near the horizon, we see stars as if they are blinking. If the stars could be viewed from an area where they would not be affected by the Earth’s atmosphere, they would not appear to be blinking.
Most stars are found in pairs
Contrary to what is seen, although all the stars seem to be standing alone in the sky, in fact, many stars are in pairs. These stars are known as binary stars. A binary star consists of two stars orbiting a common center of gravity. In addition, some star systems can consist of three, four or even more stars. But these star systems are seen as a single star when viewed from Earth.
If you want to take a look at different content about space, you can read how the colors of the planets are actually formed in this content:
You can take a look at the most fascinating space photos, which we did not know about until today, in this content:
17136
