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12.3: Stellar Birth

  • Page ID
    64217
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    There are relationships between pressure, temperature, and volume in a gas like interstellar medium:

    Where:

    • This relationship shows that as the pressure (P) increases, the temperature (T) increases and the volume decreases (V).

      As the pressure, density, and temperature increases, no thermal (heat) energy can easily escape. The rising pressure and density leads to the formation of a Protostar, where the core is not yet undergoing fusion. The star ‘turns on’ – a star is born – when the protostar’s core temperature reaches 10,000,000 K; fusion begins as the proton-proton cycle.

      Image of The Eagle Nebula, M16, a high tower of gas and dust, often called fingers.  Red objects within the nebula shows stars forming.
      Public Domain | Image courtesy of NASA.

    This page titled 12.3: Stellar Birth is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Lumen Learning via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.

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