![]() |
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech, who would not endorse this site even if they knew it existed |
Many astronomy articles have a bad habit of assuming star formation without demonstrating or explaining it.If you took a shine to this post, you can read the entire article by clicking on "Wishing Upon Star Formation".
In Hollywood, A Star Is Born by intelligent design. Out in the near vacuum of space, however, it’s complicated. The laws of physics don’t cooperate. Gravity may begin condensing gas and dust toward a hopeful career in the lights, but then those darn laws of heat and pressure take over, pushing the gas back out. Something has to give the gas an extra push to make it over the pressure barrier. Maybe a supernova explosion could do it. That appeal, however, is likely to get philosophers of science smirking. They will ask, “If that is your answer, where did the first stars come from, before there were no supernovas?” [For purists, that’s supernovae.] “You can’t require stars to make stars.”
Looking for a comment area?
You can start your own conversation by using the buttons below!