How a star is born, lives and dies.
From a cloud of gas to a white dwarf, a neutron star or a black hole: a star's whole life on one poster.
Reads alone from about 8; a parent reads the margin aloud before that.
Prints in 2 to 5 business days, then 3 to 4 to your door. Shipping is $4.99 for an 18x24 and $7.99 for a 24x36, plus 40 cents for each poster after the first. US addresses only.
Checked by Rob Oller Edition 2026-10 Sources listed below
in-frameThe poster in its 18x24 frame on a painted wall, straight on, whole frame in shot.
child-heightThe poster on a kid's bedroom wall, shot from a seven-year-old's eye height, a kid reading it.
margin-close-upThe margin facts, close, sharp enough to read, to show the type size and the paper.
unboxingThe kraft box as it arrives, and the rolled poster coming out of it.
What Is On This Poster
8 factsThe facts this poster carries, so you can match it to what your kid is asking about before you buy.
- Stars are born in clouds of gas and dust called nebulae.
- The Sun is about 4.6 billion years old, a little less than halfway through its life.
- In about 5 billion years the Sun will swell into a red giant, then shrink to a white dwarf.
- A star born with more than about 8 times the Sun's mass ends in a supernova and leaves a neutron star or a black hole.
- A sugar-cube-sized piece of a neutron star would weigh about a billion tons on Earth.
- Red dwarfs are the most common stars in the Milky Way.
- A star's color tells its temperature: blue stars are the hottest, red the coolest.
- The carbon in you and the oxygen you breathe were made inside stars.
Sources
- NASA Space Place: nebulas
- NASA Science: Stars
- NASA Science: Sun facts
- NASA Science: Types of stars
- NASA Imagine the Universe: Stars
- NASA Science: Neutron stars
- NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day: star colors
- NASA StarChild: elements made in stars
Every source for every poster, and every correction, is on the sources and corrections page.
Fits These Frames
in-frame-18x24The sample 18x24 in a standard 18x24 frame from a big-box store, the frame's brand visible on the back.
18 x 24 Inches
Fits a standard 18x24 frame, the usual size for art prints, sold at big-box stores.
Printed sizes can run a little over, so the design keeps everything that matters clear of the edge and the frame hides nothing.
in-frame-24x36The sample 24x36 in a standard 24x36 poster frame, on a wall, with a door or chair for scale.
24 x 36 Inches
The most common poster size in the US, and the one budget frames are made for. Readable from across a room.
The same margin rule: nothing important sits near the edge.
189 gsm Matte Paper
Thick, smooth and glare-free. Printful, who prints it, calls it museum-quality paper.
Epson UltraChrome GS3
Pigment ink Printful lists as GREENGUARD Gold certified. Deep blacks, which a night sky needs.
Rolled In A Kraft Box
No plastic caps. Unroll it face up, lay a clean sheet of paper on it with a few books on top, and give it a night. Damaged on arrival, we send another.
