ORIGINS 2B03 Lecture Notes - Nuclear Fusion, Protostar

• School: McMaster University
• Department: Origins
• Course: ORIGINS 2B03
• Professor: Laura Parker

Document Summary

The interstellar medium is mostly gas and dust (low density) Dust makes up 1% (of the stuff between stars) can lock starlight. We can directly see light in the interstellar medium. Special places in the in, are dense and quite cool, where stars are formed called molecular clouds. They have molecules in them, in the rest of the im there are only atoms. The youngest stars are formed in the deepest, coolest part inside the molecular cloud. The most massive star we cannot even see being form as they die out so quickly. It is hard to see star formation - infrared is used to see through. Gravity amplifies density, like if you have some denser regions gravity will make them dense over time. The densest region where stars are found are called. cores which is only a few degrees higher than 0 degrees.