• Question: How do stars collapse?

    Asked by #458Italia to Jim on 9 Mar 2016.
    • Photo: Jim Barrett

      Jim Barrett answered on 9 Mar 2016:

      Stars are in a constant fight between the hydrogen they’re burning on the inside pushing everything out, and the gravity due to how heavy they are pulling everything in.

      When they run out of stuff to burn, gravity easily wins this fight, and the star collapses

Comments

  • Photo: Scott

    Scott commented on :

    Think of a star like a hot air balloon. As long as there’s a fire on under it, the balloon will puff up full and float in the air. If you turn the fire off, the balloon will collapse and fall back down because of gravity.