• Question: Why do stars shine so bright?

    Asked by sarah2013xxx to Colm, Eoin, Joseph, Lauren, Stephen on 18 Nov 2013.
    • Photo: Stephen Scully

      Stephen Scully answered on 18 Nov 2013:

      Stars are big nuclear reactors. They take small atoms like Hydrogen and squish them together to make bigger atoms like Helium. When they do this energy is released and some of this energy is the light that we see coming from the stars.

    • Photo: Joseph Roche

      Joseph Roche answered on 18 Nov 2013:

      They release huge amounts of energy and they burn very hot. There is also very little else giving off light around stars (other planets are dark) so they seem extra bright in the darkness of space.

    • Photo: Lauren Mc Keown

      Lauren Mc Keown answered on 18 Nov 2013:

      Good question! Processes of fusion of some of the elements which make up the Universe going on in the star give out large amounts of energy which we see as light shining at us in the night sky. How bright a star shines at us depends on its distance from us and its temperature :).

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