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Composite image showing young stars in and around molecular cloud Cepheus B.. This is a list of star-forming regions located in the Milky Way Galaxy and in the Local Group.Star formation occurs in molecular clouds which become unstable to gravitational collapse, and these complexes may contain clusters of young stars and regions of ionized gas called H II regions.
All stars are formed from collapsing clouds of gas and dust, often called nebulae or molecular clouds. Over the course of millions of years, these protostars settle down into a state of equilibrium, becoming what is known as a main-sequence star. Nuclear fusion powers a star for most of its existence.
Westerhout 51 nebula in Aquila - one of the largest star factories in the Milky Way (August 25, 2020). Star formation is the process by which dense regions within molecular clouds in interstellar space—sometimes referred to as "stellar nurseries" or "star-forming regions"—collapse and form stars. [1]
Similar nebulae not illuminated by stars do not exhibit visible radiation, but may be detected as opaque clouds blocking light from luminous objects behind them; they are called dark nebulae. [ 25 ] Although these nebulae have different visibility at optical wavelengths, they are all bright sources of infrared emission, chiefly from dust within ...
The rate of mass being assembled into stars is approximately 3 M ☉ per year. Only 2% of the mass of a molecular cloud is assembled into stars, giving the number of 150 M ☉ of gas being assembled in molecular clouds in the Milky Way per year. [13] [14] The Elephant's Trunk Nebula is an elongated dark globule.
[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]
Interstellar clouds also provide a medium to study the presence and proportions of metals in space. The presence and ratios of these elements may help develop theories on the means of their production, especially when their proportions are inconsistent with those expected to arise from stars as a result of fusion and thereby suggest alternate ...
This is a list of Wolf-Rayet stars, in order of their distance from Earth. [1] [2 ... is around 163 kly distant and the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is around 204 kly ...