ESS
Stars documentary student worksheet
Name:___________________pd:___date:_______
Introduction
1. Every star creates the basic ________________ for everything in the universe.
2. The sun is a ball of _________________________ gas that has been lighting our system for 4.6 billion years and
dominates life on Earth
3. The sun is ___________miles away and you could fit _____________Earths inside the sun
4. The largest star ever discovered is _______________________________.
5. Stars burn in different ________________ (ex:____________, ________________, _______________)
6. Some live alone, others orbit in __________. All come together in huge ____________________
Birth of stars
1. All stars start life in the same way as clouds of dust and gas called _______________________
2. The dark parts of a nebula is where stars are bring born but the clouds are so thick that normal _______________
can not see inside
3. In 2004 NASA launched Spitzer Space Telescope which only sees ________ (__________________________). Images from
this reveal glowing areas of heated clouds
4. All you need to make a star is ___________________________, _____________________________ & ______________
5. When matter is compressed it drives the ________________________ up.
6. Over 100s of 1000s of years the cloud gets thicker and forms a giant spinning __________ larger than our solar
system.
7. At its center, _____________ crushes the gas into a super dense, super hot ball.
8. Pressure builds until huge _______________________ burst out from the center.
9. Gravity keeps the pressure on, sucking more and more gas & dust particles that ______________ into each other
generating more & more ___________.
10. Over the next ________________________ years, the young star gets smaller, brighter and hotter.
11. When the temperature in its core reaches __________________ degrees, atoms of gas _________ together releasing
massive amounts of energy.
12. A star is born and it will shine for _____________ or ______________ or ___________________ of years.
A Life of Fusion 10:10 time stamp
1. Albert Einstein’s theory proved that stars could tap into the energy inside _______________ of hydrogen.
2. It is possible to release the energy by _________________. Sub atomic physics determines the nature of stars.
3. Hydrogen atoms are naturally ____________ by each other. Scientists have to use technology to force then together.
4. The Tokomak machine heats the hydrogen atoms to _________ degrees. When hot enough, the hydrogens smash
into each.
5. Four _____________ atoms weigh more than one ________ atom: The missing mass has been turned into pure
_____________.
6. The machine can only maintain _________ for a fraction of a ___________ but inside stars, __________ continues for
millions of years because of their __________.
7. Fusion at the core of a star generates ________________ force of a billion _________________ every second.
8. Stars are not ripped apart because __________________ is compressing the outer layers
9. ___________ and __________ are in an epic battle. This power struggle plays out over the entire life of a star and
creates ______________.
10. Light travels at _________________________but most stars are so far away that it takes _____________, ____________ or
even____________ of years to reach us.
11. Light from our sun takes ______________________ to reach us
Light’s journey 17:55 time stamp
1. When the sun fuses hydrogen into __________ in its core, it creates a _________ (a particle) of light.
2. That photon gets slammed into other materials and gets re-directed. This means it can take ______________ of years
for that new ray to reach the sun’s surface.
3. When the outer surface gases get heated by escaping particles of energy, they speed up and create powerful
________________ fields.
4. As the star _____________ these fields clash and burst though the surface: Giant magnetic __________ erupt into space
sending streams of ________________particles deep into space.
5. This solar _________________ can damage _______________ and satellites.
6. The bigger the star the more _____________ the wind – if our star were the size of EV Carinae it would strip our
atmosphere, __________ the oceans and _______ the surface)
The death of an average star 23:10 time stamp
1. From the moment of its birth, every star is destined to _______.
2. Its fuel will run out and then _____________ will win the battle with fusion, triggering events that will destroy the
star.
3. In about ________________ years our sun will run out of fuel.
4. The ______ layers will collapse as gravity wins over reduced fusion.
5. The ________ layers will expand as they heat up, increasing the size of the sun from ________________ in diameter to
______________________ in diameter.
6. The Earth and inner planets will be engulfed by the ______ giant
7. With no hydrogen left to fuse, the sun will fuse _____________ into ______________.
8. Energy waves will blow the _______ layers away into space.
9. All that will be left is an intensely hot, dense core (about the size of _________________) called ___________________
10. Astronomers believe that the heart of this dead star is a ____________________________________________________
The death of a giant star 28:24 time stamp
1. Giant stars live ______________, burn ______________ and die ____________.
2. Their destruction creates the _______________________________ of the universe.
3. Although it is only a few million years old, __________________________ is near death. It is known as a ____________
giant.
4. The gravity in its core is intense and so it manufactures ______________________ elements. However, once it makes
_______________, it is doomed
5. __________ absorbs energy and causes fusion to stop allowing crushing gravity to take over. The core collapses
within ______________.
6. The outer layers slam down on the core and a ____________________________ is generated (the most violent event in
the universe).
7. In a few seconds the __________________ creates ________ energy than our sun will in its lifetime.
8. Prof Paul Drake re-creates these events in his lab and observes materials ________________________________
9. The explosion fuels the fusion of the heaviest _______________ (ex: _____________, _________________, _________________)
10. After the explosion, clouds of star dust material is sent into space and a ______________ star is left behind.
The origins 37:50 time stamp
1. In the beginning, star dust nebulae did not exist. The first stars were born _________________ after the Big Bang.
2. At that time the universe was dark and only ______________ and ___________ existed.
3. _______________ worked on the gas the formed the first stars which were __________________ and died ____________.
4. The dust from those _______________ created the raw materials for what we fine on Earth.
5. Everything that we see around us was once blasted out from the core of a ___________.
6. The atoms in our sun are _______________ (3rd or 4th generation).
7. The universe will end once the _____________________ is used up.
8. Trillions of years from now even the smallest, slowest burning stars will burn up: The age of _________will be over.