• Question: what makes the stars so bright

    Asked by caseman to Colm, Eoin, Joseph, Lauren, Stephen on 13 Nov 2013.
    • Photo: Joseph Roche

      Joseph Roche answered on 13 Nov 2013:

      They’re basically exploding – nuclear fission is occurring, turning hydrogen into helium and this makes them glow very bright!

    • Photo: colm bracken

      colm bracken answered on 14 Nov 2013:

      Yes, good answer Joseph. But just to correct you slightly, it is nuclear fusion that is occurring at the centre of the Sun, not nuclear fission. Nuclear fusion is a much more efficient way of creating energy and the Sun burns through hundreds of millions of tons of Hydrogen fuel every second through nuclear fusion. This is why the Sun is soooo bright. It is constantly creating vast amounts of energy!

    • Photo: Stephen Scully

      Stephen Scully answered on 14 Nov 2013:

      Stars are big energy factories. They combine smaller atoms together and create larger ones (usually Hydrogen into Helium). When they combine they release energy. Some of this energy is light that we see which is why they are bright.

    • Photo: Eoin O Colgain

      Eoin O Colgain answered on 15 Nov 2013:

      As for nuclear fusion, it all happens thanks to E = m c^2. The difference in mass m of the atoms getting fused gets converted into energy E. Here c is the speed of light.

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