Baby stars are tiny, growing stars that are just beginning to shine brightly like their older brothers and sisters.
Imagine you have a bag of popcorn. When it's all still in the bag, it’s quiet and calm, but when you shake it up, the kernels start popping one by one, each making a little pop! as they grow bigger and brighter. That’s kind of what happens with baby stars.
How baby stars are made
Inside a big cloud of gas and dust in space, called a stellar nursery, things start to get busy. Just like popcorn kernels getting ready to pop, the stuff in the cloud starts moving around, spinning, bumping into each other, until some parts get hot enough to become a baby star.
What baby stars do
Once they're born, baby stars keep growing and shining more brightly over time, just like your favorite light bulb getting brighter as it warms up. Some might even grow so big that they become full-grown stars like our Sun!
Examples
- Baby stars are the first stage of a star’s life, kind of like a child learning to walk.
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See also
- What are larger stars?
- How Do Stars Die in Space?
- What are hypergiants?
- What Are the Differences Between Stars and Planets?
- What are planetary nebulae?