Stars

Table of Contents:

North Star/Polaris

All Stars

Stars-General

Stellar Temperatures

Stellar Sizes

Stellar Explosions

Stellar Spectra/Twinkling

Stellar Distances From Earth and Each Other

Binary Star Systems

Stellar Energy

Pulsars/Quasars

Formation/Evolution

Composition/Structure

White Dwarves

Numbers/Names

Observations

 

Related topics:

Constellations

North star/Polaris

  1. Thought North Star/Polaris is brightest star (or is very bright) in the night sky
  2. Thought North Star/Polaris will always be in our north
  3. Thought North Star/Polaris is at everyone's zenith (directly overhead)
  4. Thought North Star/Polaris moved throughout the day and night (not fixed in north)
  5. Thought Jupiter is North star
  6. Thought Venus is the north star
  7. Thought North Star/Polaris is in Big Dipper
  8. Thought North Star/Polaris is the hottest star
  9. Thought North Star/Polaris is closest star to Earth
  10. Thought everyone on Earth can see North Star/Polaris
  11. Thought North Star/Polaris is the only star that does not rise and set
  12. Thought there is a South Pole star
  13. Thought morning/evening stars are North Pole star
  14. Thought Polaris is not the North Star
  15. Thought Polaris is not part of a constellation
  16. Thought Sirius is the North Star
  17. Thought Polaris is the star of Bethlehem
  18. Thought Polaris is directly on the North Celestial Pole

Back to top

All Stars

  1. Thought all stars were created at the same period of time (around the big bang)
  2. Thought all stars were created at the same time (not specified to be at time of big bang)
  3. Thought all stars are white
  4. Thought all stars are yellow
  5. Thought all stars are same color
  6. Thought all stars last forever
  7. Thought all stars are evenly patterned on the celestial sphere
  8. Thought all stars are same distance from Earth (celestial sphere)
  9. Thought all stars are fixed in space
  10. Thought all stars rise and set each night
  11. Thought all stars orbit the Earth
  12. Thought all stars are the same size
  13. Thought all stars have the same global properties (there is only one "kind" of star)
  14. Thought all the stars in the universe are visible from Earth (with naked eye)
  15. Thought all stars visible from Earth are part of our solar system
  16. Thought all stars at the same temperature have the same brightness
  17. Thought all stars are cold
  18. Thought all stars have the same temperature
  19. Thought all stars have the same chemical composition
  20. Thought all stars fuse hydrogen into helium
  21. Thought all stars are same size as the Sun
  22. Thought all stars have same intrinsic brightness
  23. Thought all stars have the same mass
  24. Thought all stars follow the same evolutionary track
  25. Thought all stars end up as white dwarves 4 OG (will happen to Sun, therefore ...)
  26. Thought all stars explode as supernova or nova
  27. Thought all stars explode and become black holes
  28. Thought all stars explode as novas
  29. Thought all stars explode as supernovas
  30. Thought all stars have planetary systems
  31. Thought all stars are in one galaxy or another
  32. Thought all stars are fixed relative to each other
  33. Thought all stars have the same apparent magnitude
  34. Thought all stars were evenly distributed throughout space
  35. Thought all stars moved together
  36. Thought all stars have solid surfaces
  37. Thought all stars on the celestial sphere are visible throughout any night
  38. Thought all stars are non-rotating
  39. Thought all stars have the same lifespan
  40. Thought all stars are the same size
  41. Thought all stars end as red giants
  42. Thought all stars are circumpolar
  43. Thought all stars are white or yellow
  44. Thought all stars are in the Milky Way Galaxy
  45. Thought all stars are the same as or similar to the Sun
  46. Thought all stars have a given name

Back to top

Stars-General

  1. Thought stars orbit planets
  2. Thought stars are only red, yellow, or white

Stellar Temperatures

  1. Thought the brighter a star is, the hotter it is (or vice versa)
  2. Thought red stars are hottest (e.g. red hot - blue cold)
  3. Thought the hotter a star is, the longer it will live
  4. Thought stars of equal temperature all have equal brightness
  5. Thought red giants are very hot
  6. Thought stars are cold
  7. Thought stars are cooler than they are

Back to top

Stellar Sizes

  1. Thought stars never change size (M.S. to Giant)
  2. Thought the bigger a star is, the brighter it is
  3. Thought stars are smaller than they actually are
  4. Thought stars are smaller than the Sun and closer to us than the Sun
  5. Thought the smaller a star is, the younger it is
  6. Thought that the larger a star's diameter, the more mass it contains
  7. Thought stars are smaller than planets
  8. Thought stars are smaller than the Earth
  9. Thought older stars are bigger stars
  10. Thought more massive stars are dimmer
  11. Thought quasars are large stars
  12. Thought larger stars are closer to Earth

Stellar Explosions

  1. Thought nova is the mother of all explosions
  2. Thought novas only occur once per star
  3. Thought stars formed as result of an explosion
  4. Thought stars explode and disperse completely
  5. Thought supernovae completely dissipate the star
  6. Thought supernovae are just bigger novas
  7. Thought a supernova anywhere would destroy the Earth
  8. Thought supernovae are just big, bright stars
  9. Thought all stars that supernova form black holes
  10. Thought supernovae are caused by stars colliding
  11. Thought when a star collapses its density remains the same
  12. Thought supernovae are rarer than they are
  13. Thought supernovae are myths
  14. Thought stars do not explode
  15. Thought there are no novae

Back to top

Stellar Spectra/Twinkling

  1. Thought stars emit only one color of light
  2. Thought stars only give off visible light
  3. Thought heat and light from stars are unrelated
  4. Thought stars actually have spokes or points
  5. Thought stars twinkle (by changing their intrinsic brightness)
  6. Thought twinkling occurs in our eyes
  7. Thought twinkling is due to explosions on stars
  8. Thought stars that twinkle are dying
  9. Thought stars twinkle as they in the final stages of burning out
  10. Thought stars twinkle because of clouds
  11. Thought stars twinkle because they are distant
  12. Thought stars twinkle because of intervening gas and dust
  13. Thought twinkling is caused by asteroids
  14. Thought stars twinkle because they are moving
  15. Thought stars twinkle because they are on fire
  16. Thought twinkling is caused by the composition of the star
  17. Thought stars twinkle because of pollution

Back to top

Stellar Distances From Earth and Each Other

  1. Thought the stars are about as far away as the moon
  2. Thought closest stars to Earth are closer than the Sun
  3. Thought stars are all closer than they actually are
  4. Thought stars are closer together than they are (galaxy is smaller than it really is)
  5. Thought stars appearing close in the sky are necessarily close in reality (i.e. there are no optical doubles)
  6. Thought the closer a star is to Earth, the brighter it must be as seen from here
  7. Thought nearest star (besides Sun) is much closer than it actually is
  8. Thought parallax is used to measure distance to all stars
  9. Thought Alpha Centauri is the closest star
  10. Thought some of the stars we see with our naked eyes are in other galaxies
  11. Thought measuring distance to stars was more speculative
  12. Thought stars are closer than or as far away as planets
  13. Thought the brightness of a star only depends upon the distance from Earth
  14. Thought there are millions/many stars close to us

Back to top

Binary Star Systems

  1. Thought stars in a binary system quickly collide
  2. Thought binary stars are physically very close to each other (contact binary)
  3. Thought all apparent binary star systems are really bound systems
  4. Thought there were many fewer binary star systems than there actually are
  5. Thought Alcor and Mizar are a true binary system
  6. Thought all/most stars are isolated, not binary, objects
  7. Thought the stars in binary systems are always identical
  8. Thought binary stars are 2 stationary stars unusually close to each other
  9. Thought binary systems are very rare
  10. Thought binary stars are actually single stars that radiate such that there appears to be two stars
  11. Thought that Sirius was a single star

Back to top

Stellar Energy

  1. Thought stars just exist -- they don't make energy
  2. Thought stars run on fuel, like gasoline or natural gas
  3. Thought stars create matter from nothing
  4. Thought white dwarf stars create their own energy (have fusion), i.e., they are "stars"
  5. Thought neutron stars create their own energy (have fusion), i.e. they are "stars"
  6. Thought stars turn into planets when they burn out
  7. Thought more massive stars last longer than less massive stars
  8. Thought stellar size, color, temperature are unrelated
  9. Thought starlight is reflected light
  10. Thought hydrogen is the only fuel for stars

Back to top

Pulsars/Quasars

  1. Thought pulsars are pulsating stars
  2. Thought pulsars are stars that are losing their light and dying
  3. Thought pulsars and quasars are the same objects
  4. Thought pulsars are "pieces of matter" in space that pulsate
  5. Thought a pulsar's surface made it pulse
  6. Thought pulsars are young stars just "coming to life"
  7. Thought pulsars are rays
  8. Thought pulsars are unrelated to neutron stars
  9. Thought pulsars are beacons of visible light only
  10. Thought pulsars are the only source of radio waves
  11. Thought pulsars are main sequence stars
  12. Thought quasars are small

Back to top

Formation/Evolution

  1. Thought stars form in isolation, rather than in clusters
  2. Thought star formation ceased billions of years ago
  3. Thought stars form from clumping meteors
  4. Thought stars do not chemically evolve
  5. Thought stars get continuously dimmer/smaller with age
  6. Thought stellar ages could not be determined
  7. Thought more massive stars last longer than less massive
  8. Thought stars just "go out"
  9. Thought stars remain the same until they blow up
  10. Thought stars never die
  11. Thought all stars formed at the same time as the Earth
  12. Thought stars do not evolve
  13. Thought stars were created at the big bang
  14. Thought stars formed from pieces of the Sun
  15. Thought a hotter star will last longer
  16. Thought stars remain the same color
  17. Thought stars retain the same brightness

Back to top

Composition/Structure

  1. Thought stars are solid
  2. Thought stars are liquid
  3. Thought stars are molten rock
  4. Thought stars are rocks that reflect Sunlight
  5. Thought stars do not have magnetic fields
  6. Thought stars do not have atmospheres
  7. Thought stars do not rotate
  8. Thought stars are like planets & can therefore have life on them
  9. Thought stars composition remains fixed in time
  10. Thought neutron stars are full of gas
  11. Thought stars do not contain heavier elements
  12. Thought we could not tell anything about the chemistry/composition of stars

Back to top

White Dwarves

  1. 1Thought white dwarf stars are much larger than the Earth
  2. Thought white dwarf stars are "baby" stars at early age of evolution
  3. Thought white dwarf stars are fusing
  4. Thought white dwarf stars are the hottest, brightest stars
  5. Thought white dwarf stars are protostars
  6. Thought white dwarf stars are just small stars
  7. Thought white dwarf stars are not stellar remnants

Back to top

Numbers/Names

  1. Thought there are many fewer stars than there actually are
  2. Thought there were only a few hundred thousand (or fewer) stars in the universe
  3. Thought all objects we see in the night sky are stars
  4. Thought supergiant stars are common
  5. Thought only bright stars have names
  6. Thought quasars are stars
  7. Thought morning star and evening star are stars
  8. Thought that all stars are named for mythical characters
  9. Thought there is an infinite number of stars

Back to top

Observations

  1. Thought we see the same stars every night
  2. Thought we see all the stars visible in the sky at some time throughout the year
  3. Thought stars actually "turn on" as the sky darkens in the evening
  4. Thought stars don't set
  5. Thought we are looking at stars as they are now (different from 2 in that logic not specified, suggesting weaker reasoning process)
  6. Thought stars follow you in your car
  7. Thought Orion's sword is composed entirely of stars
  8. Thought we see all the stars all the time
  9. Thought millions of stars were visible to the naked eye
  10. Thought only a few stars are visible to the naked eye
  11. Thought all stars are visible from all locations on Earth
  12. Thought there is no twilight after the Sun has set
  13. Thought stars that appear brighter are actually brighter
  14. Thought "Morning/evening star" is actually a star
  15. Thought stars are upside down in the southern hemisphere
  16. Thought there are no double stars in Ursa Major
  17. Thought we cannot determine the age of stars
  18. Thought brighter stars have a higher magnitude

Back to top

Home Page - Misconceptions Main Page