The reason a star shines is because it uses fuel, that is, it fuses hydrogen into helium as we discussed in the last lab. If you think about that it means that stars are changing their chemical composition. As time passes, they are becoming more and more helium-rich and hydrogen-poor. These changes affect the star's properties as it ages which in turn means that it's evolving. You will begin your investigation of the stellar life cycle by getting some images using the virtual observatory.  You will have to identify these images as one of the following: emission nebula, isolated star, star cluster, planetary nebula, or supernova remnant.  Then you will associate these images with the stages of a star's evolution: birth, life, and death.

 

Much of what we know about stars is based on their spectra.  You will be asked to identify the spectral type of several stars based on their spectra.

Remember that stars are not static bodies, meaning they do not just sit still in space.  They rotate about their axis just like the Earth, and they also move around.  The last part of the lab is an exercise in measuring the movement of a star over a period of time.