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Molecular cloud Barnard 68, about 500 ly distant and 0.5 ly in diameter. ... Dense molecular filaments will fragment into gravitationally bound cores, most of which ...
As it collapses, a molecular cloud breaks into smaller and smaller pieces in a hierarchical manner, until the fragments reach stellar mass. In each of these fragments, the collapsing gas radiates away the energy gained by the release of gravitational potential energy .
The phase begins when a molecular cloud fragment first collapses under the force of self-gravity and an opaque, pressure-supported core forms inside the collapsing fragment. It ends when the infalling gas is depleted, leaving a pre-main-sequence star , which contracts to later become a main-sequence star at the onset of hydrogen fusion ...
Stellar evolution starts with the gravitational collapse of a giant molecular cloud. Typical giant molecular clouds are roughly 100 light-years (9.5 × 10 14 km) across and contain up to 6,000,000 solar masses (1.2 × 10 37 kg). As it collapses, a giant molecular cloud breaks into smaller and smaller pieces. In each of these fragments, the ...
The nebular hypothesis says that the Solar System formed from the gravitational collapse of a fragment of a giant molecular cloud, [9] most likely at the edge of a Wolf-Rayet bubble. [10] The cloud was about 20 parsecs (65 light years) across, [9] while the fragments were roughly 1 parsec (three and a quarter light-years) across. [11]
A new study proposes that the dinosaurs were killed off due to severe global cooling caused when the Earth passed through a ‘giant molecular cloud.’
[2] [35] Over millions of years, giant molecular clouds are prone to collapse and fragmentation. [36] These fragments then form small, dense cores, which in turn collapse into stars. [35] The cores range in mass from a fraction to several times that of the Sun and are called protostellar (protosolar) nebulae. [2]
A dark nebula or absorption nebula is a type of interstellar cloud, particularly molecular clouds, that is so dense that it obscures the visible wavelengths of light from objects behind it, such as background stars and emission or reflection nebulae.