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Do stars have any kind of cycle?

I'm pretty sure stars don't die and then somehow get reborn, but I was wondering if there is anything in the 'life' of a star that is like some kind of cycle. Something that the star does that repeats endlessly... preferably something that has a sequence, not just a short moment in time.

If they don't, then just say so.

I know this is kind of strange, but I'm creating a dance and drama piece based on stars - I'm clutching at straws here...

Update:

Just to reiterate - something that a SINGLE star does and repeats. Not stars in general, ONE star that has some kind of repeating sequence. Thanks

5 Answers

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  • Alan
    Lv 7
    9 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    Yes most stars do.

    Our sun has a 22 year cycle, every 11 years it swaps magnetic poles and gets covered in sunspots.

    Also it spins every ten days.

    Source(s): 50 years studying astronomy
  • 9 years ago

    Well, there are Cepheid Variables, stars that get brighter, then dim over a particular period. There are unstable giants, which can brighten and then dim at irregular intervals. Our sun goes through a 22-year less active/more active phase, where sunspot activity and flares decrease, then increase again - and it's thought this pattern to have been discovered in some nearby stars as well.

  • GeoffG
    Lv 7
    9 years ago

    All stars undergo evolution, gradual change over their lifetime. Many stars are variable in brightness in a cyclical way. Usually this is caused either by their being double stars which pass in front of one another (eclipsing binaries) or stars which vary in size, colour, and brightness (pulsating variables). An example of the former is Algol (Beta Persei) and an example of the latter is Mira (Omicron Ceti).

  • 9 years ago

    Stars DO DIE , science shows you that , just read about it ,

    And btw , most of the stars you see are already dead you can only see the light they emitted while still ''alive''

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  • Anonymous
    9 years ago

    Yes its called the star cycle.

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