The color of a star is related to the color of light that it gives off. Light is a wave – a cycling motion that travels through empty space. When a star emits a light wave, the wave can travel across empty space to the Earth, where we see the star’s light.
Light waves, like waves in water, can be described by the distance between two successive peaks of the wave – a length known as the wavelength. Different wavelengths of light appear to our eyes as different colors. Shorter wavelengths appear blue or violet, and longer wavelengths appear red.