Ummm... * is a typeglob, which means in a way "Everything named ...". So *foo is everything named foo: $foo,@foo,%foo,&foo,the fh foo, and the format foo,(I'm sure I missed something,,but don't know what.) \*foo is a reference to the typeglob. A typeglob or a ref to it, can be used as an "indirect filehandle". Typeglobs are also used to create aliases:

*foo=*bar; #Now everything named bar is also named foo
*fooo=\$barr #now $fooo is an alias to $barr
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And to create a refernce using the *foo{THING} thing which is explained in perlref(As the 7th way to create a reference). For more about typeglobs, read perldata.