Giant star

High school (ages 12+)
Space & Astronomy

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/giant-star

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the luminosity factor?Their luminosities can exceed 100 times that of the Sun
2. What makes a star a giant?A giant star has a much larger radius and brightness than a normal star of the same surface temperature. It happens when the core runs out of hydrogen and the outer layers expand.
3. Why do giant stars look red?When the outer layers expand, the surface gets cooler, so the star appears redder.

Main Sequence: The primary stage of stellar evolution where stars fuse hydrogen into helium in their cores, characterized by a stable balance of forces.
Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram: A scatter plot of stars that shows the relationship between their absolute magnitude (luminosity) and their spectral type (temperature).
Nucleosynthesis: The process by which new atomic nuclei are created from pre-existing nucleons (protons and neutrons) and nuclei, occurring in stars and during the Big Bang.
Stellar Evolution: The sequence of changes a star undergoes throughout its lifetime, from its formation to its eventual demise, driven by gravity and nuclear fusion.