What happens after a star becomes a nebula?

A star is born when the gas and dust from a nebula become so hot and dense that hydrogen atoms are smashed together to form helium. This process, called nuclear fusion, occurs in every star and produces heat and light.

What happens when a star is born?

Stars are born within the clouds of dust and scattered throughout most galaxies. Turbulence deep within these clouds gives rise to knots with sufficient mass that the gas and dust can begin to collapse under its own gravitational attraction. As the cloud collapses, the material at the center begins to heat up.

How long does a nebula star last?

Explanation: For a star the size of the sun, it takes ~10 million years for the nebula to collapse. For bigger stars, it takes a shorter amount of time; as short as 100,000 years. For smaller stars, it can take far more than 10 million years.

What causes a nebula to collapse and start to rotate?

FLATTENING: The solar nebula has flattened into a disk. This flattening is a natural consequence of collisions between particles in a spinning cloud. When the cloud collapses, these different clumps collide and merge, resulting in a flattened rotating disk.

How are stars formed in a nebula?

Star Forming Nebula These knots contain sufficient mass that the gas and dust can begin to collapse from gravitational attraction. As it collapses, pressure from gravity causes the material at the center to heat up, creating a protostar. One day, this core becomes hot enough to ignite fusion and a star is born.

Why do stars leave the main sequence?

Eventually, a main sequence star burns through the hydrogen in its core, reaching the end of its life cycle. At this point, it leaves the main sequence. Then the pressure of fusion provides an outward thrust that expands the star several times larger than its original size, forming a red giant.

Do nebulae disappear?

If the nebula has dispensed all the stars it could, there’s nothing left in it. The stars consume the matter engulfed in nebula. Eventually, there would be nothing left to eat! So yes nebulae can disappear.

Why are stars born in a nebula?

STAR BIRTHS are started when the interstellar matter in gas clouds, such as the Eagle Nebula shown here, compresses and fuses. Some astronomers think that a gravitational or magnetic disturbance causes the nebula to collapse. As the gases collect, they lose potential energy, which results in an increase in temperature.

How do gravity and pressure keep a nebula from collapsing?

How do gravity and pressure keep a nebula from collapsing? Outward pressure balances the inward gravitational pull and keeps the cloud from collapsing. As the largest planetesimals grow in size, their gravity attracts more dust and gas.