A broswer app that animates the different stages in a star's life and see how its brightness, size, and mass change with time

Star In A Box

Use the Star In A Box app to explore the relationship between a star's mass and its life-cycle. Learn to describe the relationship between a star's mass and its life span, name the stages of a star's life-cycle, in order, for several masses of star and describe the relationship between a star's mass, its age, and its position on the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram.

Astronomy, High school, ICT, Investigation, Lifecycle of a star, Physics

Introduction

Introduction Media Milestones Map

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Introduction

What is Star In A Box?

“Have you ever wondered what happens to the different stars in the night sky as they get older? This app lets you explore the life-cycle of stars.”

Sarah Eve Roberts, Las Cumbres Observatory Education Specialist

Have you ever wondered what happens to the different stars in the night sky as they get older? This activity lets you explore the life-cycle of stars.

Star in a Box is an interactive webapp which animates stars with different starting masses as they change during their lives. Some stars live fast-paced, dramatic lives, others change very little for billions of years. The webapp visualises the changes in mass, size, brightness and temperature for all these different stages.

Do you want to use Star in a Box in your classroom lessons? Resources have been designed to help you to explore the life-cycle of stars with your class.