Which type of star has a shorter life cycle?

High mass stars have a shorter life cycle compared to their low and medium mass counterparts due to the fundamental processes that govern their lifetimes. These stars consume their nuclear fuel at a much faster rate because they have greater gravitational pressures in their cores, leading to a rapid fusion of hydrogen into helium and other heavier elements.

As a result, despite starting with a greater amount of fuel, the intensity of their energy production means they only remain in the main sequence phase for a few million years before progressing rapidly through their later evolutionary stages. They can explode as supernovae and leave behind neutron stars or black holes relatively quickly in astronomical terms.

In contrast, low and medium mass stars, like our Sun, evolve more slowly, spending billions of years in the main sequence stage and living much longer overall. Thus, understanding the relationship between a star's mass and its life cycle is crucial in astronomy, highlighting why high mass stars are characterized by their short life spans.