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
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 ...
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 ...
Close-up movie shows hidden details in the birth of super-suns (w/ Video)
Nov 16, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The constellation of Orion is a hotbed of massive star formation, most prominently in the Great Nebula that sits in Orion's sword. The glowing gas of the Nebula is powered by a group of young ...
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 ...
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 ...
Turbulence May Promote the Birth of Massive Stars
Feb 23, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- On long, dark winter nights, the constellation of Orion the Hunter dominates the sky. Within the Hunter's sword, the Orion Nebula swaddles a cluster of newborn stars called the Trapezium. These stars are ...
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 ...
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 ...
Verdict: Supermassive black holes not guilty of shutting down star formation
Jan 22, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of Yale University astronomers has discovered that galaxies stop forming stars long before their central supermassive black holes reach their most powerful stage, meaning the black ...
Rapid star formation spotted in 'stellar nurseries' of infant galaxies
Nov 11, 2009 |
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The Universe's infant galaxies enjoyed rapid growth spurts forming stars like our sun at a rate of up to 50 stars a year, according to scientists at Durham University.
Sky merger yields sparkling dividends
Oct 13, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Not surprisingly, interacting galaxies have a dramatic effect on each other. Studies have revealed that as galaxies approach one another massive amounts of gas are pulled from each galaxy ...
Making Massive Stars
Sep 15, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Our understanding of star formation leans heavily on observations of stars like the sun, namely, those that are modest in mass and that are born and evolve at a relatively leisurely pace. ...
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, ...
