Star Colours

Stars come in different colours, and each colour tells us about the star's temperature. Red stars are the coolest, yellow stars like our Sun are medium, and blue stars are the hottest. Hot stars burn their fuel faster and usually live shorter lives.

Astronomers can work out a star's temperature by studying the colour of its light. The Sun looks yellow-white from Earth, but its light contains many colours. Stars in the night sky look a little different depending on how far away they are.