What is called a star ? A star ( sun ) A star is an astronomical object consisting of a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its own gravity. the closest star to Earth is that the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the eye from Earth during the night, appearing as a mess of fixed luminous points within the sky thanks to their immense distance from Earth. Historically, the foremost prominent stars were grouped into constellations and asterisms, the brightest of which gained proper names. Astronomers have assembled star catalogues that identify the known stars and supply standardized stellar designations. The observable Universe contains an estimated 1×1024 stars,but most are invisible to the eye from Earth, including all stars outside our galaxy, the Milky Way . For most of its active life, a star shines thanks to thermonuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium in its core, releasing energy that traverses the star's interior then radiates into space . most prese...