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The Sun
(1) How does a sun become a sun? (2) Why is it that when a sun has nothing left to burn it just doesn't go out like a match? It goes super nova or just nova. (3) Can a sun prematurly be extinguished? Can A planet become a sun? Like earth, could earth become a sun?
Thanx all
Answers
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.(2) Stars don't always go supernova. The larger ones do, and this is a result of fusion taking place until all the reactive matter inside has been converted to energy. In smaller stars, they slowly cool down becoming red, white or black dwarfs.
1) As pointed out it's all a matter of size, Jupiter is often referred to as a failed sun. In other words when the solar system was forming it did not get big enough to ignite. Often planets do and you get a binary or tertiary with two or more suns orbiting each other
2) Again BobJim's right Our sun is nowhere large enough to go suprenova. After it becomes a Red Giant it will shink back and fade away.
Incidently a nova is not just a dim supernova here's a page explaining the difference:
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answers/980202c.html
3) I don't think a sun could prematurly be extinguished other than by extreme events such as a companion star becoming a black hole or netron star and colliding with it.
Earth could not now become a sun there is not enough matter for it to attract . As I mentioned a planet is in effect a wannabe star.
The one thing that annoys me is referring to the Sun as "burning" hydrogen. When hydrogen burns it combines with oxygen to form water - a chemical reaction. The process takiing place in the Sun is nuclear fusion, not a chemical reaction, and it does not involve oxygen.
For starters try here http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/stars/death/index.sht ml