How would you describe the life cycle of a star?

1 Answer

Here's a helpful diagram, because stars cannot be generalised.

Explanation:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/add_aqa/stars/lifecyclestarsrev2.shtml

There are a lot of paths that stars can take depending on how much stellar-forming matter a star accumulates as a protostar. I've also attached a diagram illustrating all the possible types of stars that exist right now.

https://www.noao.edu/outreach/press/pr03/images/agb_graph_big.gif

I hope this helps!