Star Formation
Stars form in nebulae, which are clouds of dust and ionized gases like hydrogen and helium. The formation begins when the dust cloud collapses because of the cloud's gravity. After the collapse, the center heats up and causes fusion to begin.
Stars, then go through a number of steps in the formation process.
Steps
1. Clouds contract due to gravity and break into smaller pieces.
2. The pieces break apart and begin to heat up.
3. The cores of the pieces reach 10,000 K and become a protostar.
4. The cores continue to get hotter until they reach 10 million K and nuclear fusion begins.The protostar then becomes a star.
5. The stars continue to heat up until they become Main Sequence stars. They will stay in the Main Sequence until their fuel source, which is hydrogen, is depleted.
Stars form in nebulae, which are clouds of dust and ionized gases like hydrogen and helium. The formation begins when the dust cloud collapses because of the cloud's gravity. After the collapse, the center heats up and causes fusion to begin.
Stars, then go through a number of steps in the formation process.
Steps
1. Clouds contract due to gravity and break into smaller pieces.
2. The pieces break apart and begin to heat up.
3. The cores of the pieces reach 10,000 K and become a protostar.
4. The cores continue to get hotter until they reach 10 million K and nuclear fusion begins.The protostar then becomes a star.
5. The stars continue to heat up until they become Main Sequence stars. They will stay in the Main Sequence until their fuel source, which is hydrogen, is depleted.
Quiz
1. Where do stars form?
1. Where do stars form?
2. What happens during the first step of Star Formation?
3. When do the pieces of the dust cloud become a protostar?
4. When does nuclear fusion begin?
5. When do stars exit the Main Sequence?