Vastoscope
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04 · Stars · 7 min

How stars become impossible

Follow stellar scale from a nursery through ordinary stars, giants, remnants and black holes.

9 evidence-linked checkpoints3.8 orders of magnitude inwardOrion Nebula to M87* horizon
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01Orion Nebula02Proxima star03Sun04Pollux05Betelgeuse06White dwarf07Neutron star08Stellar black hole09M87* horizon
  1. 01
    Opening coordinate · Interstellar · Nebulae

    A stellar nursery

    Orion Nebula · ≈24 light-years

    Clouds of gas and dust collapse into dense cores that can ignite new stars.

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    Visual evidence plate for Orion Nebula101711% complete
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  2. 02
    First threshold · Stellar · Stars

    A long-lived red dwarf

    Proxima Centauri · ≈214,000 km

    Small stars burn fuel slowly and may survive for far longer than the current age of the universe.

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    Visual evidence plate for Proxima Centauri10822% complete
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  3. 03
    Perspective shift · Stellar · Stars

    A middle-sized star

    The Sun · 1.393 million km

    The Sun feels enormous beside Earth but is modest beside many evolved stars.

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    Visual evidence plate for The Sun10933% complete
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  4. 04
    Perspective shift · Stellar · Stars

    A star begins to swell

    Pollux · ≈12.25 million km

    When core hydrogen runs low, a star can expand into a giant.

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    Visual evidence plate for Pollux101044% complete
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  5. 05
    Deep crossing · Stellar · Stars

    A red supergiant

    Betelgeuse · ≈1 billion km

    Massive evolved stars develop huge, diffuse surfaces and lose material into space.

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    Visual evidence plate for Betelgeuse101256% complete
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  6. 06
    Revelation · Planetary · Stars

    One possible remnant

    White dwarf · ≈12,700 km

    A Sun-like star can leave an Earth-sized white dwarf after shedding its outer layers.

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    Visual evidence plate for White dwarf10767% complete
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  7. 07
    Revelation · Planetary · Stars

    A city-sized stellar core

    Neutron star · ≈20 km

    A more massive star may collapse into a neutron star only tens of kilometres wide.

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    Visual evidence plate for Neutron star10478% complete
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  8. 08
    Return signal · Planetary · Black holes

    Beyond the neutron-star limit

    Stellar black-hole horizon · ≈60 km across

    Sufficiently massive collapsing cores can form event horizons instead.

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    Visual evidence plate for Stellar black-hole horizon10589% complete
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  9. 09
    Return signal · Stellar · Black holes

    A horizon wider than a planetary system

    M87* event horizon · ≈38 billion km

    Supermassive black holes grow to millions or billions of solar masses at galactic centres.

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    Visual evidence plate for M87* event horizon1014100% complete
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Expedition complete

You crossed 3.8 orders of magnitude.

The route began at Orion Nebula and ended at M87* event horizon. The next step is to place both endpoints inside the same comparison engine and inspect what the raw ratio means.

Compare the endpointsChoose another expedition