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Stars and Their Characteristics
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Main Sequence Star
A star in the stable phase of its life cycle where it's fusing hydrogen into helium in its core.
Red Giant
A dying star that has exhausted its core hydrogen and expanded to many times its original size.
Neutron Star
An incredibly dense stellar remnant composed almost entirely of neutrons, left over from the supernova explosion of a massive star.
Binary Star System
A system of two stars that are gravitationally bound and orbit a common center of mass.
Blue Supergiant
A massive star with high luminosity and a surface temperature exceeding 10,000 K.
Black Hole
A region of space where the gravitational pull is so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape from it.
Red Dwarf
A small and relatively cool star on the main sequence, of spectral type K or M.
Protostar
An early stage of a star's formation where the nebular material is contracting before nuclear fusion has begun.
Variable Star
A star whose brightness as seen from Earth fluctuates, either due to intrinsic or extrinsic factors.
White Dwarf
A small, dense stellar remnant left after a red giant sheds its outer layers, no longer undergoing nuclear fusion.
Supernova
A powerful and luminous stellar explosion that marks the end of a massive star's life cycle.
Wolf-Rayet Star
A rare, massive star with a high rate of mass loss through powerful stellar winds.
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