• Question: why are the stars white

    Asked by rashid123 to Anna, Jonathan, Samantha, Sam on 29 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: Samantha Weaver

      Samantha Weaver answered on 29 Jun 2012:

      They’re not all white – their colour depends on their surface temperature. Red stars are small and cool, blue stars big and hot. In between are orange, yellow (like our Sun) and white stars.

    • Photo: Angharad Davies

      Angharad Davies answered on 29 Jun 2012:

      Stars look white because they emit light of every wavelength/colour – and all the colours combined make white.

    • Photo: Sam Chilka

      Sam Chilka answered on 4 Jul 2012:

      See Samantha and Angharad’s answers. Not all stars are white. A star’s colour depends on what wavelength of light it sends out, and the wavelength of light sent out in turn depends on the star’s temperature. “White” light is made up of light of all wavelengths (all the colours of the rainbow), and stars which look white send out light of all wavelengths.

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