February 14, 2022
Stars run on a process called nuclear fusion, where elements such as hydrogen and helium are fused together under immense heat and pressure to create new, heavier elements. In supergiant stars, this process continues creating new elements until iron is formed, which is too heavy and requires more energy than available to fuse together. The high amounts of energy needed to form the heavier elements found in our universe come primarily from supernovae and star collisions.
Stars, including the Sun, are constantly going through nuclear fusion. The most common example of this is when two Hydrogen atoms are fused to create Helium. Energy is also created during this fusion, which is released by the star as heat and light. Image credit: NASA