Sparkling Crystals that accompany the Moon

“I like the night. Without the dark, we’d never see the stars”

Stephenie Meyer, Twilight

After a warm shower at the end of a hard day, my eyes were craving the night sky. Without even realizing I was on the balcony gazing at the night sky. That day, the sky seemed so special. The lustrous stars were waving at me, green-tinted stars were sparkling, and some silver sequin stars were accompanying them. They were blanketing over my head beautifully to the extent that I thought of gazing at them without even sleeping. But suddenly a question popped into my head, “What are these stars? How can they be like sparkling sequins?”

I was wondering…

So, what are these stars?

In simple words, I can say that those are some shining glittering things that brighten the night sky. They are to keep company to the moon. Moon can’t lighten the night sky only with his soft yellowy light. So, the stars come out and they help the moon and accompany him so that he won’t be lonely in the dark. Also, I’ve heard people say that the good people who had a kind heart go to heaven when they die, and they become glittering stars for us to see hinting that they are always watching us from above. True or not it’s always nice to think that our loved ones are watching over us. Don’t you all think so? Fancy stories aside, we can gently sing twinkle, twinkle little star to lull a baby to sleep but beyond the Earth’s atmosphere, these words aren’t always accurate.

Stars, from the eyes of a science student

Stars are large celestial bodies (objects in space) made mostly of hydrogen and helium that produce light and heat from the nuclear fusion inside their cores. The sparkling dots in the night sky you see are all millions and billions of light years away from earth except for our sun.

• Fun fact– Our very own Sun is also a giant star.

There are hydrogen-based dust clouds in the sky which we call nebulae. That is the birthplace of a star. Over thousands of years, gravity causes the dense matter inside the nebula to collapse under its own weight. At this stage, we call it a protostar. Over time, the protostar gets smaller, and it starts spinning fast because of the conservation of angular momentum.

After millions of years, the temperature of the core of the protostar climbs to about 27 million degrees Fahrenheit (15 million degree Celsius), nuclear fusion begins, and the longest stage of a star’s life, known as its main sequence, begins.

Most of the stars in our galaxy, including our very own sun, are categorized as main sequence stars. They convert hydrogen to helium and radiate x-rays, a stable state of nuclear fusion. This process emits an enormous amount of energy and that is why the star is shining brightly.

Stars spend over 90% of their lives in this main sequence phase. As the star moves towards the end of its life, much of its hydrogen has been converted to helium. helium goes inside the core and rises the temperature and as a result, the outer shell of hot gases expands.  We call these large swelling stars red giants. After this phase, there are different ways a star’s life can end and it all depends on how massive the star is. Some stars become white dwarfs and cool for billions of years and some of these white dwarfs gather excess matter until they explode. It’s what we call a supernova explosion. This catastrophic explosion leaves behind something, a black hole. It is an area where scientists still do research.

You don’t have to worry about the sun becoming a white dwarf and experiencing this catastrophic death. Now around 4.6 billion years old, Sun is considered an average-size yellow dwarf star and astronomers predict it will remain in its main sequence stage for several billion more years.

Looking up to the night sky

Ancient people used to look up to the night sky for all sorts of reasons. They identified different patterns of stars known as constellations where many of which are named under mythical figures and by tracking their movements they could tell about the seasonal changes. They knew when it is time to harvest and when it is time to gain the products just by looking at the stars. Also, without any GPS trackers, they could travel anywhere without getting lost just by tracking the stars. Today astronomers use constellations as guide points to name newly discovered stars and they still act as navigational tools.

Wherever you live, be it in the middle of skyscrapers or be it in the middle of a forest you can always gaze up at the sky depending on the cloud state of the sky. Looking up reveals the night sky in all its rich celestial glory. Soothe your eyes with the soft glittering light and calm your soul with the peace it brings to you. Apart from all the scientific facts, you will hear them talking to you. They will tell you about their most valuable treasure – the unspoken thoughts of stargazers from all around the world and who knows, you may add yours in to it.

By Rtr. Devanga de Silva

Image Credits:

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