Star- an enormous ball of glowing gases
  
     Gases that a star is made up of- Hydrogen and Helium

     Constellations- groups of stars

     Galaxies- largest star clusters of all
 
     Milky Way Galaxy- has over one hundred million stars

     Sizes of a star- super giants, giants, medium, white dwarfs, and neutron stars

     Sun's classification- medium

     Red colored star- coolest, about 5,000 degrees F

     Blue colored star- hottest, about 50,000 degrees F

     Novas and Super Novas- exploding stars that become thousands of times brighter than usual and then become dim again

     Parallax- something that astronomers use to find the distance of our star from Earth

     Photosphere of the Sun- the lowest layer that gives off light

    Chromosphere- the next layer above the photosphere

    Corona- releases charged particles as solar wind

    Sunspots- areas of the Sun's surface that appear dark because they are cooler than the surrounding areas; temporary features which come and go over days, weeks, or months; increase and decrease in 10 to 11 year pattern called solar activity cycle; related to intense magnetic fields

Solar flares- violent eruptions near a sunspot

Age of the Sun- middle aged; 4.6 billion years old

Distance of the Sun from the Earth- 93 million miles

How long one solar day is- 25 Earth days

Where the Sun's energy is produced- the core

Temperature of the surface of the Sun- 2 million degrees C, one million degrees F

Average diameter of a sunspot- 18,000 km, 11,000 mi

How long it normally takes for a sunspot to form and disappear- 2 weeks

Longest period of time a sunspot might last- 1 year

How large a solar flare can become- 1 billion km, 386,000,000 mi

Solar prominence- red colored gas clouds that quickly shoot up from the Sun's surface for thousands of kilometers

How long a solar prominence lasts- 7 months