What are stars? Astro-Investigates Ep. 3 (Stars)?

Stars are giant balls of hot gas that light up the night sky, just like a firework in the sky.

Imagine you have a big balloon filled with air, but instead of air, it's full of something much hotter and brighter: gas. That’s what a star is like. It’s so hot inside that it glows, just like when you light a match or turn on a lamp.

Stars start as clouds of gas, floating in space. These clouds are kind of like giant cotton candy, fluffy and soft. When gravity pulls the gas together, it gets squeezed, and that makes it very hot. The heat causes the gas to glow, and boom! A star is born.

Some stars are big and bright, like a flashlight on full power. Others are small and dim, like a night light in your room. But they all shine because of that hot gas inside, just like how your toaster shines when it’s heating up your bread.