How does gravity make a star?
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How does gravity make a star?
As gravity compresses the core of a protostar, the temperature goes higher and higher. Eventually the temperature is high enough that the star starts fusing hydrogen into helium. When the outward pressure produced by the heating of the gas by fusion energy balances gravity, a stable star is formed.
Which force is most responsible for the formation of a star?
Gravity is the force responsible for stellar formation and the mass of material that forms at star largely determines its life and fate.
What role does gravity play in the formation of galaxies?
When galaxies get close, gravity pulls them together, causing a collision. Following a collision, stars and other material begin settling into orbits around a new galactic core. Millions or even billions of years may pass before galaxies merge completely into a single larger galaxy.
How do protostars become stars?
A protostar becomes a main sequence star when its core temperature exceeds 10 million K. This is the temperature needed for hydrogen fusion to operate efficiently. Collapse into a star like our Sun takes about 50 million years. The collapse of a very high mass protostar might take only a million years.
How did gravity form the planets and stars?
Birth of the sun Cold temperatures caused the gas to clump together, growing steadily denser. Gravity continued to collapse the material onto the infant object, creating a star and a disk of material from which the planets would form.
What determines when a star becomes a main sequence star?
Stars start their lives as clouds of dust and gas. Gravity draws these clouds together. But if the body has sufficient mass, the collapsing gas and dust burns hotter, eventually reaching temperatures sufficient to fuse hydrogen into helium. The star turns on and becomes a main sequence star, powered by hydrogen fusion.
How does a star become a star?
Stars form from an accumulation of gas and dust, which collapses due to gravity and starts to form stars. The process of star formation takes around a million years from the time the initial gas cloud starts to collapse until the star is created and shines like the Sun.
What is the main factor that affects the evolution of a star?
The primary factor determining how a star evolves is its mass as it reaches the main sequence.
How does gravity contribute to the formation of stars and planets?
Gravity creates stars and planets by pulling together the material from which they are made. Gravity not only pulls on mass but also on light. Albert Einstein discovered this principle. If you shine a flashlight upwards, the light will grow imperceptibly redder as gravity pulls it.
How does gravity affect the birth of stars?
A star is born when atoms of light elements are squeezed under enough pressure for their nuclei to undergo fusion. All stars are the result of a balance of forces: the force of gravity compresses atoms in interstellar gas until the fusion reactions begin.
How are stars made step by step?