stars

The word “stars” means plural of star; the glowing points of light seen in the night sky, or, informally, outer space and everything beyond Earth. In plain terms, more than one star, or space in general.

“Stars” is pronounced stahz (/stɑɹz/ in IPA).

Here is “stars” used in a sentence: “The stars were unusually bright out in the countryside.”

“Stars” is a noun.

“Stars” is a very common word in modern English.

Stars are enormous glowing balls of hot gas, mostly hydrogen and helium, held together by their own gravity. Deep in their cores they fuse hydrogen into helium, releasing the energy that makes them shine. Our Sun is a fairly ordinary star seen close up.

A star generates its own light and heat through nuclear fusion in its core, while a planet does not — it only shines by reflecting light from a nearby star. Stars are also vastly larger and hotter. The Sun is a star; Earth and Mars are planets orbiting it.

Stars appear to twinkle because their light passes through Earth's moving atmosphere before reaching us. Pockets of air at different temperatures bend the light slightly in shifting directions, making the point of light seem to flicker. Above the atmosphere, in space, stars shine steadily without twinkling.

The stars are there all day, but the Sun's light scatters across our sky and overwhelms their faint glow. After sunset the sky darkens enough for the distant starlight to show through. The same effect is why stars are hard to see in bright, light-polluted cities.