Protostärners

Protostärners are nascent stars that are still in the process of forming. They are not yet hot enough in their cores to initiate nuclear fusion, the process that powers true stars. Instead, protostars are characterized by the intense heat generated from gravitational collapse. As a cloud of gas and dust in space contracts under its own gravity, the material in the center becomes denser and hotter. This central, collapsing region is what we define as a protostar.

The formation of a protostar typically occurs within large, cold molecular clouds. Gravity pulls denser regions of these clouds together, leading to a runaway collapse. During this phase, the protostar is often shrouded by a thick envelope of gas and dust, making it difficult to observe directly in visible light. However, they can be detected in infrared wavelengths, which can penetrate these dusty envelopes. As the protostar continues to accrete material from its surrounding cloud, its mass increases, and its internal temperature and pressure rise. Eventually, when the core becomes sufficiently hot and dense, nuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium begins, and the protostar transitions into a main-sequence star. The time it takes for a protostar to evolve into a star varies depending on its mass, but it can range from a few hundred thousand to a few million years.