What causes a nebula to form?

What causes a nebula to form?

The Short Answer: A nebula is a giant cloud of dust and gas in space. Some nebulae (more than one nebula) come from the gas and dust thrown out by the explosion of a dying star, such as a supernova. Other nebulae are regions where new stars are beginning to form.

What are star forming clumps?

Abstract. Observations reveal the presence of extended, star forming clumps in the disks of many high redshift galaxies. Many of these clumps form from gravitational instabilities in gas-rich disks and they may play an important role in growing the galactic bulges at those times.

How does a planetary nebula form?

A planetary nebula forms when a star can no longer support itself by fusion reactions in its center. The gravity from the material in the outer part of the star takes its inevitable toll on the structure of the star, and forces the inner parts to condense and heat up.

What causes dust and gas to pull together and form a protostar?

Stars are formed from massive clouds of dust and gas in space. Gravity pulls the dust and gas together to form a protostar. As the gases come together, they get hot. Gravity pulls smaller amounts of dust and gas together, which form planets in orbit around the star.

What are the clumps in galaxies?

We are searching galaxies to find “giant star-forming clumps”, or just “clumps” for short. This is what astronomers call small regions within galaxies where stars are being born at a faster-than-usual rate.

Why was clumping so critical in the early universe?

The Universe Then and Now The early universe was a very different place from what we see today. As the universe expanded and cooled, matter began to clump together, pulled in by the force of gravity. Bigger clumps had a larger gravitational pull, and became even more efficient at pulling in even more “stuff”.

What causes a nebula to collapse and start to rotate?

FLATTENING: The solar nebula has flattened into a disk. This flattening is a natural consequence of collisions between particles in a spinning cloud. When the cloud collapses, these different clumps collide and merge, resulting in a flattened rotating disk.

What triggers nuclear fusion in stars?

Fusion: The energy source of stars. The energy released from the collapse of the gas into a protostar causes the center of the protostar to become extremely hot. When the core is hot enough, nuclear fusion commences. Fusion is the process where two hydrogen atoms combine to form a helium atom, releasing energy.

What causes a planetary nebula quizlet?

A planetary nebula is formed when a red giant ejects its outer atmosphere. The beautiful images show that a planetary nebula is a stage in the evolution of a low mass star. They last tens of thousands of years. A white dwarf is the carbon core of a red giant that has ejected its photosphere as a planetary nebula.

What causes planetary nebulae to be luminous?

A planetary nebula is an expanding, glowing shell of hot gas (plasma) that is cast off towards the end of a low-mass star’s life. The ultraviolet radiation pumped out by the white dwarf causes the ejected outer layers to glow – the planetary nebula.