The Life cycle of a Star | Episode 6

Hostile Worlds: Exploring Space

As the crew of The Tardigrade prepare to land on Venus, Matthew heads back down to Earth to get some supplies. Whilst back on the home planet, he pays a visit to St. Andrews Observatory to have a look at the James Gregory Telescope - the biggest telescope in Scotland. The custodian of this fine piece of equipment is Dr. Aleks Scholz, an observational astronomer who studies problems in star and planet formation. This was a good opportunity for us all to learn something new, so Aleks is going to talk us through the life cycle of a star. Things to Learn How do stars from? Why does size matter when it comes to star formation? How do stars die? What determines the ultimate fate of a star? What causes stars to explode? How will our own sun die? What impact will the sun dying have on the planets in our solar system? If Aleks could visit anywhere in the universe, where would he go?