Stars (junior)

Where can I find information about stars?

(Years 1-4)

Colour photo of dwarf galaxy NGC 4214 with stars and gas clouds. — *Image: A Star-Formation Laboratory by NASA Goddard on NASA Image and Video Library.*

Entry last updated: 3/07/23

Introduction

Stars are giant balls of hot gas that light up our night sky from very far away. They are mostly made up of the gases helium and hydrogen. There are so many stars in the universe that we cannot count them. Groups of stars are called galaxies.

General websites

Here are some websites with helpful information about stars:

Britannica School Primary

Britannica School is one of the EPIC databases. EPIC is a collection of reliable databases covering lots of different topics.

Ask an adult to help you go to the Britannica School website and log in.
Enter 'stars' into the search bar.
Choose the article called Star (astronomy).
Explore other articles if you want to know more.

Tips: To get to the EPIC resources you will need a password from your school librarian first. Or you can chat with one of our AnyQuestions librarians between 1 and 6pm Monday to Friday and they will help you online. Some EPIC databases may also be available through your public library.

ESA - Space For Kids

ESA stands for the European Space Agency. It is like the European version of NASA. This website has lots of information on space that you can explore.

Enter 'stars' into the search bar.
Select the article titled Stars.
Read the page to find out more information about how stars work.
If you would like more information about stars you can follow the blue links at the bottom of the page.

Tips: We like sites that are from government or other reputable organisations, because we can trust the information. You can sometimes tell these sites by their web address – they might have .gov, .int, or .edu in their address – or by looking at their About us or Contact pages.

SciShow Kids | YouTube

This YouTube channel has videos about lots of different science topics including space and stars.