Why are stars generally round?

Stars are huge, very, very hot balls of gas that shine brightly. Stars like all other matter is made up of millions of atoms. The simplest and lightest element is hydrogen gas. Enormous clouds of hydrogen gas and dust particles form in space. Gravity draws the dust and gas close together forming a huge clump, or mass.

As more and more matter is added to the mass, its gravity increases. This pushes the atoms of hydrogen gas closer and closer together. The mass begins to contract, or get smaller. It also gets denser and hotter. The center is hottest of all because the atoms are being squeezed together. The heat creates tremendous energy. Energy is the power necessary to make things happen.

Finally, the crowding of the atoms, the heat, and the violent energy forces the hydrogen atoms to combine. This makes a new and heavier element called helium. The change of hydrogen gas to helium gas is called thermonuclear fusion. When this happens a star is born.

Therefore , stars appear to be circular in shape because of the gravitational pull the mass exerts from all sides. It attracts hydrogen and dust particles with equal force from all sides and hence from a distance when we look at a star , it appears like a shining ball to us. When the Helium gas reaction takes place , it still appears cirular to us since the gravitational pull inside the star holds it together with equal force in all directions.

Throughout a star's life, thermonuclear fusion goes on in its core, creating enormous energy. That energy becomes light and heat. It makes the star shine.

The new star will shine in the heavens for billions of years. It will stay that way until all its hydrogen gas has changed to helium.

When a star has finally turned all its hydrogen into helium it is nearing the end of its life. Scientists believe that the amount of mass left in the dead star determines what will become of it.

When a star has finally turned all its hydrogen into helium it is nearing the end of its life. Scientists believe that the amount of mass left in the dead star determines what will become of it.

When an even bigger star — a giant star — uses up all its energy, it collapses even more than a white dwarf. Its mass and gravity are much greater. No space is left between the atoms. Electrons and protons inside the atoms are pushed together. They become neutrons and the giant star shrinks to a very small size. It is called a "neutron star" and is usually only a few kilometers in diameter. But its mass is so great that a tiny bit of neutron star — less than a teaspoonful — would weigh about half a trillion kilograms. That's as much as a long freight train loaded with bricks!

Sometimes, when a giant star collapses, particles called neutrinos are forced out of the atoms. As the neutrinos burst forth from the dying star, the star shines more brightly than any other object in the galaxy. It looks like an enormous sparkler. This is a "supernova."

When the amount of mass left in a dying star is three or more times the mass of the sun, something very mysterious happens. A star this massive shrinks much faster than the white dwarf and the neutron star. Its force of gravity is very great. Nothing can escape it — not even light, which moves faster than anything else in the universe. This star becomes a "black hole."

Many astrophysicists believe that there are black holes at the center of most galaxies, including our Milky Way. Although that may be so, our solar system is too far removed from the black hole for us to be influenced by its pull of gravity.

Another popular belief about black holes is that it can be a very vital tool in time travel

Check these links :) very interesting :)

http://www.astronomycafe.net/qadir/q285.html

http://science.howstuffworks.com/time-travel3.htm

Stars are in the shape of oblate spheroids. This is due to gravitation pulling the mass towards the center, internal pressure (due to nuclear fusion ) keeping the star from collapsing, and the angular momentum of the star's rotation producing the oblateness ( bulging at the equator ).

Gravity. :)

A sphere is the natural shape that any gas will take on in space, if there's sufficient quantities of it to hold onto the parts with gravity. The greatest mass is at the center, and gravity pull equally in all directions -- voila, a sphere.

That's because of surface tension. In a weightless environment, all 'liquids' form into a sfeer. Molten rocks are liquid so they form a sfeer due to surface tension.

Because the Law of Gravity causes things to take that shape.

Besides, it has been proven by physics experts that the sphere is the most efficient form for energy and heat conservation.

Nature is wise, isn't she?

a spherical symetry is very favorable...

so look *this is not exactly what happens* you take a molecule, it has a certain pull at a cetrain distance away from it so it pulls in the other molecules equally from all directions (they are in a cloud of gas at this time of star formation) thus you get a sphere.

the same reason a bubble is round - internal pressure of the gas as it is burning pushes evenly away from the core of the star.

gravity, when the gravity is as stroung as it is on the sun, hydrogen acts like a liquid and trys to find the "lowest" spot or the one clossest to the center of the star

spherical is the shape of least resistance, as shown in bubbles, there is equal distribution of pressure on all sides

stars are suns so far away and our sun is round. Which makes our sun a star.