Have you ever wondered what happens to the different stars in the night sky as they get older? This interactive web-app lets you explore the life-cycle of stars.
Star in a Box is an interactive web-app which animates stars with different starting masses as they change during their lives. Some stars live fast-paced, dramatic lives, others change very little for billions of years. The web-app visualises the changes in mass, size, brightness and temperature for all these different stages.
Are you a teacher? Do you want to use Star in a Box in your classroom lessons? These resources are designed to help you to explore the life-cycle of stars with your class.
- Life-cycle of stars (teacher presentation) - Powerpoint and PDF
- Beginners level - worksheet and solutions
- Intermediate level - worksheet and solutions
Star in a Box can handle multiple languages. The simplest way to translate this app is:
- Fill out the translation forms normal and advanced,
- Copy the JSON output at the bottom of the page
- Then either email them to me (contact details on the translation page) or submit a pull request with the language file included.
The code requires Javascript and SVG so you just need a modern web browser to use it.
Note that the Chrome browser has extra security when running locally. This stops Star in a Box getting the language or star property JS files. You will need to start Chrome with the option "--allow-file-access-from-files". On a Mac you can open a terminal and run:
open /Applications/Google\ Chrome.app --args --allow-file-access-from-files
More about the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram in LCOGT's SpaceBook.