Within these now-active nebulae, particles collide and start to form clumps. As these clumps accumulate more material, they grow in mass. Thanks to their own gravity, they pull in even more gas and dust from the surrounding star-forming region. Over a million years (give or take), these ...
Advancements in technology, such as more powerful telescopes and sophisticated space observatories, are enhancing astronomers' ability to measure stellar distances. Techniques like interferometry and the use of standard candles, such as Cepheid variable stars, are also improving the accuracy of distance me...
Since the launch of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the agency has made several profound discoveries and put out some of the most stunning images of galaxies and nebulae that exist. In 2024, the telescope again pushed the boundaries of our understanding of the universe by identifying...
But before we get to that, let’s take a look at how “material” – physical matter – first came about. If we are aiming to explain the origins of stable matter made of atoms or molecules, there was certainly none of that around at theBig Bang– nor for hundreds of thousands of y...
For example, the SNDM model has been successful in explaining the appearance of accretion discs around young stellar objects. Various simulations have also demonstrated that the accretion of material in these discs leads to the formation of a few Earth-sized bodies. Thus the origin of terrestrial ...
With these building blocks, the astronomers had a model of the stellar population within galaxies, telling them how many small stars, medium stars and big stars appear inthe universe. And then they needed to trace the evolution — and most importantly, deaths — of those stars. To do that,...
The Webb image of the Carina Nebula, an interstellar gas cloud 7,600 light-years away, reveals the processes of star formation, stellar nurseries, and individual stars that were previously obscured, as well as a landscape of “cosmic cliffs” and valleys that showcase the Webb...
We don’t know. Lots. There were the original stars that formed shortly after the Big Bang, and then successive generations of massive stars that formed in various nebulae. Astronomers are pretty sure it was a least 3 generations of supernovae, but there’s no way to know exactly. ...
uncontrolled fusion reactions are also what keep the sun and all the stars shining — in the core of a star the pressure of gravitational contraction increases the temperature and pressure high enough to fuse elements all the way from hydrogen up to iron, in a process known as stellar nucleosy...
When a star explodes, it forms a supernova, a sudden and massive burst of light that can outshine a whole galaxy. Supernovae leave their mark on the skies as nebulae, clouds of solar debris that make for many of the most iconic astronomical images ever captured. Supernovae can give birt...