Stage Four: Protostar
By this stage of the stars evolution, 100,000 years after the process began, it can now be plotted on the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, which is used to compare the many different stars. Although it is still not fully formed, we are able to determine the type of star it will become based on its luminosity and temperature. In the nucleus of the condensed cloud, which could now fit within the orbit of Mercury at less than 58,000,000 km wide, electrons and protons are ripped from the atoms in the blistering one million degrees Kelvin now sustained in the central region. The electrons and protons now bounce around the interior of the forming star at energetic rates of hundreds of kilometres per second. Despite being quite hot, it is still far too cold yet to initiate nuclear fusion. To begin to process of nuclear fusion, which officially marks …show more content…
They will continue to zip around the core until it reaches a high enough temperature to merge the protons, which is the process of nuclear fusion.
Stage Six: Nuclear Fusion
Ten million years after the shock wave, the star is officially born when it reaches an internal temperature of 10 million degrees Kelvin. At this pivotal temperature, the individual hydrogen protons are unable to repel each other any longer, and collide into each other forming a helium atom. This process not only forms a higher element, but also releases energy. It is this energy that we see as sunshine or light, and can feel as heat.
By the time it has reached this milestone, the star has been compressed down to only 1 Sol (the size of our sun), an astonishing 10 million years since we were first able to see the infant star. The young star, although much smaller than the cloud which formed it, is now 2 million kilometres across, and stepping into adulthood on the main
By this stage of the stars evolution, 100,000 years after the process began, it can now be plotted on the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, which is used to compare the many different stars. Although it is still not fully formed, we are able to determine the type of star it will become based on its luminosity and temperature. In the nucleus of the condensed cloud, which could now fit within the orbit of Mercury at less than 58,000,000 km wide, electrons and protons are ripped from the atoms in the blistering one million degrees Kelvin now sustained in the central region. The electrons and protons now bounce around the interior of the forming star at energetic rates of hundreds of kilometres per second. Despite being quite hot, it is still far too cold yet to initiate nuclear fusion. To begin to process of nuclear fusion, which officially marks …show more content…
They will continue to zip around the core until it reaches a high enough temperature to merge the protons, which is the process of nuclear fusion.
Stage Six: Nuclear Fusion
Ten million years after the shock wave, the star is officially born when it reaches an internal temperature of 10 million degrees Kelvin. At this pivotal temperature, the individual hydrogen protons are unable to repel each other any longer, and collide into each other forming a helium atom. This process not only forms a higher element, but also releases energy. It is this energy that we see as sunshine or light, and can feel as heat.
By the time it has reached this milestone, the star has been compressed down to only 1 Sol (the size of our sun), an astonishing 10 million years since we were first able to see the infant star. The young star, although much smaller than the cloud which formed it, is now 2 million kilometres across, and stepping into adulthood on the main