Is the Sun the biggest Star in our Solar System?
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And now it's time for Who Smarted? Psst! Hey, smarty pants! Close your eyes and imagine something with me. Okay? Eyes closed? Great! Picture it's dark outside. Pitch black. That should be easy with your eyes closed. Now, imagine you're standing outside looking up at the night sky. What do you see? Did you say stars?

Have you ever done that, smarty pants? Have you ever just gazed up at all the stars above? It's truly spectacular. Here's another question for you. How many stars do you think you can see on a clear evening with no moon and no lights around? Is it A, 2,000 to 3,000? B, 45,000 to 50,000? Or C, about a million and a half stars? The answer is...

Huh? Now, that might seem surprising considering how many stars are in the galaxy. But astronomers say when conditions are absolutely perfect, a person with excellent vision might still see less than 3,000 stars. But hey, it's still an incredible show, available for free every single night. Of course, it looks a bit different when viewed from above. Number one, beam me up. Aye, Captain.

Welcome back aboard the USS Smarty Pants. Ready for another space out adventure? I sure am, Captain Trusty. That's great, Number One. But I was talking to the Smarty Pants. Anyway, for today's mission, we're going to visit some stars. But not just any stars. The ones closest to our own sun. Smarty Pants, do you know what these stars are called? Is it A, the Pleiades? B, Alpha Centauri? Or C, Alpha Orionis?

The answer is B, Alpha Centauri. It's located just over four light years from Earth, which means if we moved incredibly fast at the speed of light, it would take us four years to get there. No spacecraft can go that fast yet, but our podcast can. So... Approaching Alpha Centauri now, Captain. Thanks, Number One. Captain, we're picking up a strange sound.

It resembles game show music. Hello and welcome! I'm your host, Alfonso Sontari, and this is...

Dancing with the Stars! Dancing with the Stars! Hey, I've seen that on TV. Me too. I didn't know you recorded the show four light years away. Er, it's, uh, not that show. But ours is just as fun. Are you ready to dance, trusty? Uh, sure. Who doesn't like Dancing with the Stars? I'm loving the attitude. And best of all, you'll get to learn all about stars. Great.

Great, because I've always wondered how stars keep burning, what makes them twinkle, and why some of them explode. It's time for another big whiff of science on Who's Smarted? Who's Smarted? Who's Smart? Is it you? Is it me? Is it science? Or history? Listen up, everyone. We make smarting lots of fun on Who's Smart?

Hey, Smarty Pants. Trusty here with a special mission for all the Smarty Pants listening. But unlike a top secret mission, this mission requires you to tell everyone. That's right. Your job is to spread the word about Who Smarted so we can keep growing and bringing you awesome new episodes. To qualify for this mission, let's play a little game. Who do you know that would love Who Smarted but doesn't listen to the show?

Got someone in mind? Great. Question two. Pick one. Make a plan. Stick to it.

And best of all, complete this not-so-top-secret mission. I'm counting on you, Smarty Pants. The more people you tell, the bigger we grow, which means a lot more smarting for you.

Hey, smarty pants, you're in luck. My first officer, number one, and I were coasting through the cosmos when we came across a familiarly named game show where we get to dance with stars. Ooh, I wonder what celebrities we're going to meet. Ha ha ha ha! Oh, celebrities? As in movie, music, sports, or TV stars? Oh, no!

No, no, no! You won't be meeting those kind of stars. Oh. We've got much, much bigger and better actual stars! Meet Alpha Centauri A, also known as Rigel Kentaurus. Alpha Centauri A and its sister star revolve around each other in a sort of dance. Dance? Exactly! For bonus points, can you guess its sister star's name?

Smarty Pants, do you know? Wouldn't it just be Alpha Centauri B? Its name is Toleman! Whoops. Sorry, Captain. I just thought... Which is just another name for Alpha Centauri B!

Well done, number one. Ha ha. Woo hoo. I got it. Nice going, number one. But don't get cocky. Also, is everybody named Centauri around here? Ours is Centaurus, named after an ancient Greek mythological creature, the centaur. Smarty pants, do you know what a centaur is? Is it A, half monkey, half penguin, half cat, half octopus, or half man, half horse? If you said C, you're right.

Well done, smarty pants. But that's just a warm-up. Starting now, I'm going to ask you questions. Get them wrong and you're gonna dance with the stars!

Who, me? Yep, you and your number one and anyone listening. Ooh, that sounds fun. Get ready to dance, Smarty Pants. Um, Captain, what about Smarty Pants listening in cars? Right. Or on planes, trains, roller coasters, the toilet? Yes, I get your point, Number One. Smarty Pants, if you can't get up and dance,

Just move to the beat in your seat. All right, first question. Where are stars formed? Is it A, a nebula, B, an asteroid belt, or C, Hollywood? Okay, smarty pants, we did a Who Smarted episode on this. Go ahead and shout out your answers. I heard some of you say it. If you said A, nebula, you're right. And if you didn't remember or didn't hear our nebula episode, a nebula is a giant cloud of dust and gas.

And speaking of gas, what's the name of the simple gas that forms stars? A. Helium, B. Nitrogen, or C. Hydrogen? Hmm, well, as the nebula gas moves around and clumps together, gravity builds. And over millions of years, gravity's force on that gas causes their tiniest parts, called atoms, to be squeezed together.

Through a process called nuclear fusion. This gives off a lot of heat, energy, light, and helium gas. So helium is not the answer. The simpler gas that's converted into helium is C, hydrogen. Hydrogen is correct!

And the giant balls of gas formed from nebulae are what we call stars. Uh, number one, was that you? Sorry, Captain. It's baked bean burrito day in the cafeteria. I shouldn't have had that second one. Okay, moving on. Let's talk about one of your dance partners, Alpha Centauri A. Is Alpha Centauri A bigger, smaller, or the same size as your own son? Hmm, smarty pants, what do you think?

Here's a hint: Alpha Centauri A has been called the Sun's twin. So in that case, are they the same? No, I'm sorry. While Alpha Centauri A and the Sun are similar in age, brightness, and size, Alpha Centauri A is slightly bigger. So with that wrong answer, it's time to... Dance with the Stars! Okay, that's enough of that.

Next question, true or false? Stars twinkle, but planets do not. Ooh, I know this. Go ahead, Smarty Pants. Call it out with me. Three, two, one, true. Correct! Another true or false. You can see the stars twinkle in space. Oh, what do you think, Smarty Pants? This one isn't so easy. I think it's a trick, so I'm going to say false. Correct!

Smarty Pants, do you know why you see stars twinkle in the sky, but not out in space? It has to do with the Earth's atmosphere. As our air moves around, the light traveling through it from a distant star bends and twists out of shape. When the light finally reaches your eye, it appears to be twinkling. But since there's no atmosphere in space, you'd see the light directly without twinkling. But why don't planets twinkle? Great question. Any ideas, Smarties?

The reason planets don't twinkle is because the light of planets reflected from the sun is much stronger because the planets are much closer to us than the stars. The atmosphere still affects that light, but it's hardly noticeable. Whoa. Well said, trusty. Okay, here comes your next question. Every star you earthlings see at night is brighter and larger than your sun. Hmm, that's an interesting question. What do you think, smarty pants? After all, the sun is so big and bright.

I think we ought to think about it. Over this quick break, and a word from our sponsors.

Hey everyone, Trusty here. One of the things I love about hosting Who Smarted is getting to answer all those amazing questions from curious smarty pants. And that's why I'm excited to tell you about another show that does exactly that. Our friend's podcast, But Why? A podcast for curious kids. Have you ever asked something like, why does the wind blow? Or does skyscrapers actually scrape the sky? And you weren't quite sure of the answer?

Well, but why has you covered? They've answered questions from over 16,000 kids across 90 countries, and they're not afraid to tackle any topic, even the gross ones that make grown-ups squirm. I mean, they have whole episodes about poop and making paint from spit and rocks. How cool is that?

Their team gets real experts to answer real questions from real kids like you. So if your family loves learning interesting stuff on Who Smarted, you'll definitely want to check out But Why. You can find But Why wherever you get your podcasts. Have you ever asked questions like, I wonder who invented toilets? Or, why do dogs wag their tails? Oh, something.

Then have I got the thing for you. The Brains on Universe, a family of podcasts for kids and their adults. My name is Joy Dolo, and I host a funny and fabulous history show called Forever Ago. We explore the history of everything from bubblegum to how we sent messages before cell phones.

I live in New Zealand and the Maori people there use smoke signals to send messages. There's also Brains On, a science show where we answer kids' questions like... Do plants sleep? And... Why do some people have asthma? And on the debate game show Smash Boom Best, you get to judge which is cooler, chocolate versus cheese or Spider-Man versus Batman.

What is Batman's personality? He's a rich guy. Find Forever Ago, Brains On, and Smash Boom Vest wherever you get your podcasts. Or head to BrainsOn.org to learn more. Now back to Who Smarted? Okay, Smarty Pants, we were just asked the following true or false question. Are the stars you see in the night sky bigger and brighter than the sun? What do you think? Captain, if I may, we know the sun is very big and very bright. What?

I'm gonna go with false. So sorry. The sun is so bright because it's so close. But if it were as far away as the other stars, even Alpha Centauri, you might not see it at all. The stars you see at night are indeed bigger and brighter. That means it's time to dance with the stars! How much more?

I'm getting exhausted here. Same. Okay, okay, that's enough.

Whew, thanks. You're welcome. Next question. There are three stars in the Alpha Centauri system. Alpha A, which is yellow, Alpha B, which is orange, and the star which orbits around the pair, Proxima Centauri, which is red. Based on their colors, which star is the hottest? Smarty pants, what's your guess? Come on, red has to mean hotter, right? It's gotta be red.

No, I'm sorry. When it comes to stars, blue stars are the hottest, yellows are cooler, orange is cooler than that, and reds are the coolest.

Oof, I am not good at this game. I might have to stop calling you number one. Ah, don't feel bad if you didn't get that right. For one thing, just because we say red stars are the coolest, by no means should you think of them as frosty. Proxima Centauri may be much cooler than your sun, but it's still over 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit or nearly 3,000 degrees Celsius. That's pretty hot, hot, hot. That's pretty free.

Hot, hot, hot. Blue stars are about 13 times hotter. So your answer is incorrect. But that wasn't my answer. Everybody dance with the stars. Oh, I can't do this much longer. Same here. It's activating the bean burrito. Please make it stop.

Okay, next question. Wait, there's more? After burning for billions of years, a star runs out of hydrogen to convert to helium and its inner core collapses. What happens next? A. The star puffs outward, eventually fading away into a nebula. B. The star creates a massive explosion called a supernova, leaving a black hole. Or C. The star moves to a retirement community and gets occasional Lifetime Achievement Awards.

Uh, what do you think, smarty pants? I don't even want to take a guess. Oh, don't be such a chicken. However, I'm wondering if there might be more than one answer. I'm gonna go with A and B. That's correct! Lower-mass stars like your sun will puff out and fade, while in higher-mass stars, nuclear fusion keeps going, creating heavier elements and energy, throwing everything out of whack, causing a huge explosion!

Well done, Captain. Thank you. Thank you. And great job to any smarty pants who got even one of those answers correct. Okay, you can congratulate yourselves later. Next question. How many stars are there? Aha, I said that at the beginning of the episode. Two to three thousand.

Oh, no, wait. I misunderstood the question. Yep, I meant all stars, not just the ones you can see. Astronomers say there could be up to one septillion stars. Smarty pants. If 100 is 1 followed by two zeros, and 1,000 has three zeros, and 1,000,000 has six zeros, how many zeros are in one septillion? The answer is 24. That's a whole lot of stars. Now, do

Psst, number one. Yes, Captain? Get us out of here. Warp speed. Aye, Captain. We'll be back. Until then, I'll keep my feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.

This

This episode, Stars, was written by Dave Beetlejuice Beaudry and voiced by Jonathan Rigel-Rigueur, Adam Dogstar Davis, and Jerry Colbert. Technical direction and sound design by Josh Albelber and Han. Our associate producer is Max V.Y. Canis Majoris Kamaski. The theme song is by Brian Sirius Suarez with lyrics written and performed by Adam Tex-Davis.

Who's Smarter was created and produced by Adam Tex Davis and Jerry Colbert. This has been an Atomic Entertainment production.