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Why Stars Have Colors

5 min · Eve · Quiet listening

Eve

Why Stars Have Colors

Eve is reading this story.

Eve is ready

How to say it

Eve can say these names for you.

Tap a name. She will say it slowly.

Stars in a row from red-orange to cream to blue-white.
Illustration, Wonder Atlas

A hotter star's light has more blue in it. A cooler star's light has more red. Our Sun sits in the middle. The star is not painted. The star is a temperature.

Temperature is color

Warm the star

Try it tonight

  1. Find a bright star. Let your eyes rest on it. Does it lean gold, or white, or blue?
  2. Compare two stars. The difference is easier to see when they sit in the same glance.
  3. If Orion is up, compare the shoulder (Betelgeuse, orange) with the foot (Rigel, blue-white).
Put it in My Sky

If you wondered