The great birth
So you want to know how a star is born? Well, a star is born in Nebulae*. But how? In Nebulae there is energy. When the energy bundles up, it forms photons, then the photons come together to form particles of matter. These particles (which are made up of electrons, protons and neutrons) can come together to form atoms and these atoms can form molecules. Big clouds of molecules make potential energy. The potential energy slowly tightens, and the gravitational energy turns to heat and heats up. This process takes over 10 million years to happen before the bunch of energy is officially a protostar (which is the stage before a star). Then it becomes denser until it bubbles and boils in nuclear fusion. Finally, it is a star! It then randomly roams the Universe until it explodes^.
birth_of_a_star.docx | |
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Nebulae
As we learnt above, stars are born in Nebulae. They are clouds of gas and dust, they contain 97% hydrogen and 3% helium and they are found in galaxies. They are translucent, unless the gas glows or it reflects light. The types of Nebulae are Emission Nebulae*, Reflection Nebulae* and Dark Nebulae*. Most of them form from the gravititional collapse of gas. The rest form from a Supernova from a big star.
*See 'Bibliography/dictionary'
^Click on file for full diagram
^Click on file for full diagram