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