Related topics: galaxies , stars , black holes
Star formation
hideStar formation is the process by which dense parts of molecular clouds collapse into a ball of plasma to form a star. As a branch of astronomy star formation includes the study of the interstellar medium and giant molecular clouds (GMC) as precursors to the star formation process and the study of young stellar objects and planet formation as its immediate products. Star formation theory, as well as accounting for the formation of a single star, must also account for the statistics of binary stars and the initial mass function.
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News tagged with star formation
'Missing link' galaxies discovered
Nov 25, 2008 |
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Astronomers at The University of Nottingham have identified a type of galaxy that could be the missing link in our understanding of galaxy evolution.
Mysterious space blob discovered at cosmic dawn (w/Video)
Apr 22, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of astronomers, led by Carnegie's Masami Ouchi, have discovered a mysterious, giant object that existed when the universe was only 800 million years old. Dubbed an extended "Lyman-Alpha ...
First detection of magnetic field in distant galaxy produces a surprise
Oct 01, 2008 |
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Using a powerful radio telescope to peer into the early universe, a team of California astronomers has obtained the first direct measurement of a nascent galaxy's magnetic field as it appeared 6.5 billion ...
Cosmic 'Dig' Reveals Vestiges of the Milky Way's Building Blocks
Nov 25, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Peering through the thick dust clouds of our galaxy's "bulge" (the myriads of stars surrounding its center), a team of astronomers has unveiled an unusual mix of stars in the stellar grouping ...
The Energy Sources of Ultraluminous Galaxies
Nov 27, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Ultraluminous infrared galaxies ((ULIRGs) are galaxies whose luminosity exceeds that of a trillion suns; for comparison, the Milky Way galaxy has a typical (and much more modest) luminosity ...
NASA's Spitzer Images Out-of-This-World Galaxy
Jul 23, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has imaged a wild creature of the dark -- a coiled galaxy with an eye-like object at its center.
New stars from old gas surprise astronomers
Feb 18, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Evidence of star birth within a cloud of primordial gas has given astronomers a glimpse of a previously unknown mode of galaxy formation. The cloud, known as the Leo Ring, appears to lack ...
When It Comes to Galaxies, Diversity Is Everywhere
Sep 30, 2008 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- There's an old saying in astronomy: "Galaxies are like people. They're only normal until you get to know them." That view is supported by a group of astronomers after using NASA's Hubble Space ...
Magnetic fields play larger role in star formation than previously thought
Sep 09, 2009 |
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The simple picture of star formation calls for giant clouds of gas and dust to collapse inward due to gravity, growing denser and hotter until igniting nuclear fusion. In reality, forces other than gravity also influence ...
Massive Stars Near the Galactic Center
Aug 28, 2009 |
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The Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) of our galaxy is a giant complex of molecular gas and dust situated in the innermost 700 light-years of the Milky Way. Although the galaxy is over 100,000 light-years in size, ...
Dust and gas in the early universe
Jul 31, 2008 |
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Researchers believe that our universe began with the Big Bang about 13 billion years ago, and that soon after that event, matter began to form as small dust grains and gases. How the first stars formed from ...
Globular clusters tell tale of star formation in nearby galaxy metropolis
Aug 05, 2008 |
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Globular star clusters, dense bunches of hundreds of thousands of stars, contain some of the oldest surviving stars in the Universe. A new international study of globular clusters outside our Milky Way Galaxy ...
A faraway planet intrigues: Exoplanet with extremely tilted orbit raises new interest in stellar astronomy
Nov 12, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Two teams of astronomers have found a planet outside the solar system that might be orbiting backwards compared to its star's rotation, a discovery that could shed light on how unique the ...
Stripped down: Hubble highlights two galaxies that are losing it
Sep 30, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Ram pressure is the drag force that results when something moves through a fluid -- much like the wind you feel in your face when bicycling, even on a still day -- and occurs in this context ...
Infant galaxies -- small and hyperactive
Feb 05, 2009 |
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Galaxies, including our own Milky Way, consist of hundreds of billions of stars. How did such gigantic galactic systems come into being? Did a central region with stars first form then with time grow? Or did ...
