Myth vs Reality: Star Life and Death

 

 

Produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute’s Office of Public Outreach.

 

All images, illustrations, and videos courtesy of NASA, ESA, and STScI except:

 

·       Taurus constellation drawing from Firmamentum Sobiescianum sive Uranographia by Johannes Hevelius, courtesy of the United States Naval Observatory

·       Winter Circle star field image created with Stellarium

·       Omega Centauri ground-based image courtesy of F. Lehman (South Florida Dark Sky Observers)

·       Photo of night sky at twilight courtesy of ESO/H. H. Heyer

·       Milky Way star field photo courtesy of ESO/C. Malin

·       Orion Nebula 3D animation courtesy of ESO/M. Kornmesser

·       Star formation animation courtesy of NCSA/NASA/A. Kritsuk and M. Norman (UC San Diego) and A. Boley (Univ. of Florida)

·       Photo of the Milky Way over the Austrian Alps copyright Babak A. Tafreshi (TWAN)

 

 

Written by Vanessa Thomas

Designed by John Godfrey

(SPEECH) 

 [ELECTRONIC MUSIC] 

(DESCRIPTION) 
 Top left, a black and white picture of a minotaur. Top right, a color picture of stars. 

Text, MYTH versus REALITY 

Myth side 

Text, Stars live forever. 

Reality side 

Text, All stars eventually die. Some stars live for billions or trillions of years, but others live for just a few million years.