Formation of stars Flashcards
What is Nebula?
Huge clouds of dust and gas where stars are born
What happens to the dust and gas?
they come together due to gravitational attraction to form vast clouds
Why does Kinetic Energy increase?
work is done by gravity, causing GPE to decrease and KE to increase
What happens after?
a protostar is formed - a very hot sphere of dust and gas in which fusion hasn’t occured. (not every protostar reaches required temp for fusion)
What eventually happens to some protostars?
nuclear fusion occurs, hydrogen nuclei fuse to form helium nuclei.
how does the newly formed star establish equilibrium?
inward gravitational force is balanced by radiation and gas pressure, known as the MAIN SEQUENCE phase
what does increasing the core’s mass affect?
the temperature increases, increasing rate of hydrogen fusion
