Nuclear fusion reactions within its core support the star against gravity and generate photons and heat, as well as a small amount of heavier elements.
What is a Planet? A planet is a celestial body that orbits a star or stellar remnant. It has enough mass for its self-gravity to shape it into a nearly round form. A planet’s mass is not too large to initiate nuclear fusion in its core, allowing it to become hot and shine like a star.
.jpg)
The Differences Between Planets and Stars
The main distinction between stars and planets is that stars have higher temperatures compared to planets. Stars undergo nuclear reactions, burning hydrogen in their cores to release an enormous amount of energy. To sustain these reactions, stars need to be extremely massive. They must have a mass of at least 75 times that of Earth’s largest planet, Jupiter. Because stars emit energy, they appear very bright.
In contrast, planets do not generate energy through nuclear reactions. They reflect some radiation from their parent star. The Sun is a Dwarf Star
Stars that produce energy by maintaining and synthesizing hydrogen include dwarf stars, giant stars, and supergiant stars. Giant and supergiant stars represent the final stages of a star’s life cycle, while most smaller stars are in the evolved stage known as dwarf stars.
The mass of the Sun comprises 99.86% of the total mass in the solar system, creating a high core temperature and density that sustains the nuclear fusion reactions converting hydrogen to helium, turning it into a star. This releases enormous energy, mainly radiating into space when electromagnetic radiation peaks in visible light.
Thus, our Sun – the ‘heart’ of our solar system – is a dwarf star, sometimes referred to as a ‘dwarf gold,’ a blazing hot gas sphere.
During the day, we only see one star in the sky. It is the nearest star to us, the most influential on our everyday lives, and the star we’ve given a name: the Sun.
The Sun is also the closest star to Earth, taking about 8 minutes and 30 seconds for its light to reach us. Other stars in the sky are much farther from Earth than the Sun. The closest star to us after the Sun is Proxima Centauri, and its light takes 4.22 years to travel from there to Earth. And mind you, the speed of light in space is about 300,000 km/s!”