• Question: how can you tell how old a star is

    Asked by madscientist101 to Aime, Akshat, Diana, Gemma, Judith on 19 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Judith McCann

      Judith McCann answered on 19 Jun 2011:

      I’m not completely sure but I think they calculate it by the brightness and distance. The size of the star basically shows how much fuel it’s got to burn (star are basically giant reactors making heavy elements out of lighter ones) by figuring out how bright the star is you can calculate how quickly it’s burning-and how it been burning by how much of itis lighter elements.

      Maybe one of the other scientists can give you a more definite answer,sorry!

    • Photo: Gemma Sharp

      Gemma Sharp answered on 19 Jun 2011:

      I’m not sure either, but Judith’s answer sounds good to me!

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