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Stars and the Universe

What is a Star?

When you look at the sky at night, all of the points
of light which you see (except for a few planets) are stars.

Stars generate their own heat and light by a process of
nuclear fusion. The nearest star to Earth is called the Sun.

Most of the stars are so very far away that they appear not to move.
In reality they might be hurtling through space at enormous
speeds. The patterns of "fixed" stars are called constellations.

The planets of our solar system are so close to Earth that you can
see them move against the fixed background of constellations.
If you see Jupiter in one place in the sky at night,
then the next night you can see that its position has changed.

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