Lists of stars Facts for Kids

Stars are amazing, giant balls of hot gas in space that make their own light and heat! They do this through a special process called thermonuclear fusion, which is like a super powerful engine inside them. When we look up at the night sky, we see countless stars, and scientists have made many different lists to help us understand them better. These lists help us organize stars based on where they are, what they are called, how close they are to us, or what they are like.

Stars by Location
Stars by Name
Stars by Distance and Brightness
Stars by Their Features
Special Types of Stars
Other Interesting Star Lists
- Some Notable Stars
See also

Stars by Location

Sometimes, stars are grouped by the constellation they appear in. Constellations are patterns of stars that people have imagined in the sky for thousands of years.

Lists of stars by constellation

Stars by Name

Many stars have special names, some of which are very old!

List of proper names of stars: These are common names for stars, like Sirius or Polaris.
List of Arabic star names: Many star names come from ancient Arabic astronomers.
Chinese star names: Stars also have names from ancient Chinese astronomy.
Nakshatra: These are names for star groups from ancient Indian astronomy.
Stars named after people: Some stars are even named after famous people!

Stars by Distance and Brightness

Scientists often list stars by how close they are to Earth or how bright they appear in our sky. This helps us study them more easily.

List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs: This list includes stars and "brown dwarfs" (which are like failed stars) that are very close to us, within 20 light-years.
List of nearest bright stars: These are the closest stars that are also easy to see.
List of brightest stars: This list shows the stars that look the brightest from Earth.
List of nearest giant stars: These are huge stars that are relatively close to us.
List of nearest supergiants: Even bigger than giant stars, these are the largest and brightest stars that are near.

Stars by Their Features

Stars come in all shapes and sizes, and they can be very different from each other! Scientists list them by their unique features.

List of most luminous stars: These stars shine with the most powerful light.
List of most massive stars: These are the heaviest stars, holding a lot of material.
List of largest known stars: These stars are incredibly huge in size.
List of smallest known stars: These are tiny compared to other stars.
List of oldest stars: Some stars have been around for a very long time.
List of least massive stars: These stars don't have much material in them.
List of hottest stars: These stars burn at extremely high temperatures.

Special Types of Stars

There are many different kinds of stars, and some behave in very unique ways!

List of brown dwarfs: These are objects that are bigger than planets but not quite massive enough to become full stars.
List of collapsars (black holes): These are incredibly dense objects formed when very massive stars collapse. Nothing, not even light, can escape their gravity.
List of notable variable stars: These stars change their brightness over time.
List of stars that have unusual dimming periods: Some stars unexpectedly get dimmer for a while.
List of stars with multiplanetary systems: These are stars that have more than one planet orbiting them, just like our Sun has eight planets.
List of supernova candidates: These are stars that are expected to explode in a huge event called a supernova in the future.
List of white dwarfs: These are the small, dense remains of stars like our Sun after they have used up their fuel.
List of red dwarfs: These are small, cool, and dim stars, and they are the most common type of star in the universe.

Other Interesting Star Lists

List of extremes in the sky: This list includes stars that hold records for being the biggest, smallest, hottest, or oldest.
List of hypothetical stars: These are types of stars that scientists think might exist, even if we haven't found them yet.
List of selected stars for navigation: Sailors and travelers used to use these stars to find their way.
List of stars with resolved images: These are stars that are close enough for telescopes to see as more than just a tiny point of light.
List of supernovae: This list tracks the huge explosions of stars that have happened.
Solar twins (Solar analogs): These are stars that are very similar to our own Sun.
Stars and planetary systems in fiction: This list explores how stars and planets are used in books, movies, and games.

Some Notable Stars

Here are a few special stars that have their own stories, even if they aren't on the main lists above:

BPM 37093: This is a very cool star that is thought to have a core made of diamond!
Cygnus X-1: This is a powerful source of X-rays in space, and it's believed to be a black hole pulling in gas from a nearby star.
EBLM J0555-57Ab: This is one of the smallest stars ever found, barely bigger than the planet Saturn!
MACS J1149 Lensed Star 1 (or Icarus): This is the second most distant star ever seen, about 9 billion light-years away! We can only see it because its light is bent by the gravity of a huge galaxy cluster.
P Cygni: This star suddenly became much brighter in the 1600s, surprising astronomers.
WNC4 (Messier Object 40): This is actually two stars that look like a single fuzzy patch through a small telescope.

Lists of stars facts for kids

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