BRAINCAKEFormation of a Star
Stars form inside a nebula, a huge cloud of dust and gas that is mostly hydrogen.
1. Collapse. Slightly denser regions of the nebula pull in more material by gravitational attraction. The region collapses inwards and breaks into clumps, each of which may become a star.
2. Heating. As a clump collapses, gravitational potential energy is converted into kinetic energy of the particles, so the temperature rises. The clump becomes a hot, dense ball of gas called a protostar. It glows (mainly in the infrared) because it is hot, but no fusion is happening yet.
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Key terms in this lesson
- main sequence
- The stable, longest stage of a star's life in which it fuses hydrogen into helium in its core, forming a diagonal band on the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram.
More in Space
- Luminosity and Intensity
- The Inverse Square Law for Intensity
- Estimating Stellar Radius and Temperature
- The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram
- Life Cycle of a Star
- White Dwarfs, Neutron Stars and Black Holes
- Trigonometric Parallax
- Standard Candles
All 18 lessons in Space · All Edexcel A-level Physics topics