The amount of mass per unit volume within a star, calculated by dividing stellar mass by stellar volume. Stellar density varies enormously across different types of stars and evolutionary phases.
From Latin 'stella' meaning 'star' and 'densitas' meaning 'thickness' or 'compactness.' The concept became important with the development of stellar structure theory in the early 20th century by Eddington and others.
The range of stellar densities is mind-boggling - red supergiants can have densities less than air, while neutron stars reach nuclear densities of 100 trillion times that of water! A teaspoon of neutron star material would weigh about 6 billion tons on Earth.
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