PHYS 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Hubble Space Telescope, Eagle Nebula, Planetary Nebula
Document Summary
Gravitational forces are responsible for the the life cycle of stars, from their formation to their ultimate demise. Gravitational forces are also responsible for the formation of galaxies and planetary systems. The life cycle of a star depends on its mass. Stars are formed as a result of gravitational attraction. The hydrogen clouds collapse due to gravitational attraction and this leads to the formation of stars. The picture, a portion of the eagle nebula, was taken by the hubble space telescope (hst) The cloud fragments fuse into stellar mass clouds known as protostars. Protostars do not emit visible light, but glow weakly in the infrared. If its mass is large enough, eventually, the protostar will collapse into star. We look first at the evolution of a star similar in mass to ours. Our solar system began as such a cloud. As it collapsed, the speed of the gas molecules became larger and larger the cloud was heating up.
