The life and death of a star

Process map by Brian. 33 steps, 2 layers. Tags: science, space, physics.

1. Gas cloud: A giant cloud of hydrogen collapses under its own gravity
2. The core: Core hot and dense enough to fuse hydrogen?
3. The star: Hydrogen fuses into helium: a star is born
4. The star: Billions of years of steady shining
5. The core: Hydrogen in the core runs out
6. The star: More than about 8 times the Sun's mass?
7. The star: Fuses heavier and heavier elements
8. The core: Iron can't release energy: the core collapses
9. The star: The core rebounds in a supernova
10. The core: What's left depends on the core's mass
11. The core: A neutron star: a city-sized ball of pure nuclear density
12. Us, looking up: Stardust seeds new stars and planets. Including you.
13. The core: A black hole: not even light escapes
14. The star: Swells into a red giant
15. The star: Sheds its outer layers as a glowing nebula
16. The core: The core cools into a white dwarf
17. The core: It never ignites: a brown dwarf, a failed star

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