Stars are born when contracting gas and dust become hot enough for nuclear fusion to begin. A star's lifetime depends on its mass - lower mass stars burn fuel more slowly and last longer. A star's surface temperature determines the color we see it as - from reddest and coolest to hottest and bluest or whitest. More massive stars above 8 times our sun's mass live between 10-20 million years as supergiants before ending their lives. All main sequence stars eventually become red giants or supergiants, and then either white dwarfs, neutron stars, or black holes depending on their original mass.