Whether people grow up to be tall or short or have a large or small skeletal frame depends on the genes they inherit from their parents. But a star’s life is predetermined by only one thing, which is how massive it is when it’s born.
The greater the mass, the hotter and brighter it burns—and the more quickly it consumes itself. So stars that keep cool live longer by burning slower. The hottest stars are blue, and the coolest stars are red, while others are yellow, like our Sun. Most stars in our galaxy are red dwarfs. Here are some of the different kinds of stars.
