- Myth: if stars live and die, they must be organisms. The evolution of stars is analogous with a biological life cycle – but they are not literally born, and they do not die. The word "birth" simply refers to be beginning of the star’s evolution, and "death", the end.
- Myth: stars in constellations are close together. Constellations can be fantastic guidelines for remembering the positioning of stars. However, don’t be tempted to think these stars are neighbours – they are often light years apart. (Furthermore, don’t forget that light years are a unit of distance, and not time.)
- Myth: mass is the same as weight. Stars have mass, which is measured in kilograms, not pounds. Your mass is the quantity of matter that makes up your body, whereas your weight is determined by local gravity. You’d be heavier on Jupiter as the gravitational pull is stronger than that of the Earth. The amount material in your body, i.e. your mass, would be the same.
- Myth: you can name stars for a fee. You cannot name or purchase or star (and you cannot buy land on the Moon, Venus, Mars or any other object). Companies will take money off you for such services, possibly sending you a nice map and certificate, but official astronomy bodies will not acknowledge them.
- Myth: the morning star is a real star. The word “star” is sometimes used to refer to other objects. The “morning star” and “evening star” are actually planets, and “shooting stars” refer to meteors.
- Myth: red stars are heading towards us. If you’re viewing a star with amateur equipment and it appears red or blue, it’s because it is red or blue. Do not confuse red stars with “redshift” or blue stars with “blueshift”, methods for determining whether a star is moving away from or towards you respectively. Actual redshift and blueshift are determined using special equipment.
- Myth: the Sun is an average star. The Sun is often referred to as “average”, but this is not the case. In Astronomy for Dummies (published by Wiley in 2005), author Stephen Maran says, “…the vast majority of all stars are smaller, dimmer, cooler and less massive than our sun” (chapter: Ten Common Errors about Astronomy and Space).
Sources
Ten Common Errors about Astronomy and Space, Astronomy for Dummies, published by Wiley in 2005, author: Maran. S.P.
Astronomy and the Universe, Universe (8th ed), published by W.H. Freeman and Company in 2007, authors: Freedman, R.A., Kauffman, W.J. III.
Knowing the Heavens, Universe (8th ed), published by W.H. Freeman and Company in 2007, authors: Freedman, R.A., Kauffman, W.J. III.
