The Amazing Stars

One of the best ways to watch the night sky is to go outside and look up. The Milky Way contains around 1 TRILLION stars. Yet, only around 9100 stars are visible to the naked eye. Still, even from a dark site, far from city lights, you will only see around 2000 stars.   Stars do not actually "twinkle". Twinkling is caused by our atmosphere. The more turbulent or dirty it is, the more stars appear to twinkle. This effect can increase depending on how close it is to the horizon. Closer = more twinkle! 
There are stars that look red, yellow, white and blue. The color is caused by the star temperature. Red being the coolest and blue the hottest. 
One star that looks like it doesn't move is... Polaris - The North Star! Polaris is not a bright star by any means. You can use the guide below to help you locate it. 
The entire night sky revolves around Polaris from east to west.

Start by looking north and locating the asterism, the Big Dipper. Find the two stars labeled the "pointers". Follow those until you see a somewhat dim star that appears to be by itself. This is Polaris! For thousands of years, mariners have used Polaris to guide them on their voyages across the oceans.

The Life of a Star

Star Birth - This happens in clouds of interstellar gas and dust called “nebulae”. These clouds are mostly molecular hydrogen. The process starts when a shock wave nudges the cloud. It begins to spin, possibly due to a nearby supernova explosion. Clumps of different gases and other elements start to form. They get hotter and hotter as they bet bigger. As the pressure within the "clump" grows, the temperature inside the core intensifies tremendously until it reaches 10 million degrees Celsius. At this point, a process called nuclear fusion begins. This marks the birth of a star. It is basically a huge furnace of burning plasma giving off energy in the form of heat and light.
Star birth can take millions of years. Astronomers find examples of star formation in nebulae throughout our own Milky Way Galaxy and in many other galaxies. The Orion Nebula is the most famous stellar nursery. It is also the closest to Earth, at about 1,500 light-years away.

Star Death - For much of its life, a star fuses its hydrogen into helium. When the hydrogen is consumed, it begins to fuse helium atoms. Each level of fusion releases more and more energy, which heats up the star.
In stars that are similar, smaller or up to about 7 times the size of our sun, the increased heating causes them to swell up to become giant stars. Any nearby planets are consumed by the expanding star. Eventually the outer atmosphere is blown off, creating an expanding cloud of gas around the star. This is called a “planetary nebula”. What’s left of the star itself slowly shrinks and cools. Eventually, the dying star becomes a white dwarf.
Stars that are at least 8 times more massive than the Sun keep fusing its elements. This continues until it reaches a point where the core collapses and the outer layers collapse into the core. Then, they are ejected out into space in a huge, gigantic explosion. This explosion is called a supernova. All of the elements they created in their cores are scattered into space. They become part of interstellar clouds of gas and dust. Those chemical elements are the basic materials for new generations of stars, planets, and life. These can also form neutron stars.

Some well known stars include:

Sirius - Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky! It is also brightest star in the constellation Canis Major. It makes the "dog tag" around his neck. It is twice the mass of our sun and about 25 times more luminous. The term "Dog Days of Summer" comes from ancient Greek stories. The rising of Sirius at sunset signifies the start of summer. About 40 days of hot, dry weather.

Procyon - This is one of two stars that make up Canis Minor, or Little Dog. Also called the "Herald of the Dog" which means that 7 days after its rising, Sirius (Canis Major) will rise.

Vega - Vega is the brightest star in the constellation Lyra. In about 12,000 years, it will replace Polaris as the pole star. About 12,000 years ago, it was the pole star. When we look at Vega, we see it from its polar region. Being only about 400 million years old, Vega is quite young in cosmic time. Like Sirius, Vega has about twice the mass of our sun.

Betelgeuse - Betelgeuse is a red supergiant star in the constellation Orion. It marks the left shoulder of The Hunter. Normally it is the second brightest star in Orion, but it brightens and dims periodically and trades brightness with Rigel.

Rigel - Rigel is normally the brightest star in Orion, but it trades with Betelgeuse periodically. Rigel marks the right knee of the Hunter. It is a blue supergiant star, about 120,000 times as bright as the Sun!

Antares - Sometimes called the Heart of Scorpius, Antares is a red supergiant. At about 10,000 times as bright as the sun and 18 times the mass.

Aldebaran - This bright star is a red giant star in the constellation Taurus. It is known as the "Eye" of the Bull.

Spica - This star is located in Virgo, the Maiden. It is part of an eclipsing binary system. This means that it and its companion star orbit each other every 4 days. When the smaller star passes in front of the larger star, it causes it to dim.

Arcturus - A red giant star located in the constellation of Bootes. In Greek, it translates to "Guardian of the Bear".

Algol - Algol, a variable star is known as the "Head of Medusa" in the constellation of Perseus.

Capella - Also known as the "Goat Star", she is perched on the left shoulder of Auriga the Charioteer.

Rasalhague - In Arabic, this name means "Head of the Snake Charmer". Located as the head of Ophiuchus, who is shown holding a serpent.