11 Star Formation
1. Star Forming Regions (SFR)
Star formation is a continuous process
Star forming regions are observed in all corners of universe
Part of ISM collapses under its own weight
➤ cloud shrinks ➤ heating up
➤ if the center is hot enough ➤ nuclear burning
➤ contraction stops
➤ star is born
Question: Why didn't all the matter collapse long ago?
When looking at just a few atoms, the gravitational force is nowhere near strong enough to overcome the random thermal motion
Rotation can also interfere with gravitational collapse, as can magnetism.
Clouds may very well contract in a distorted way.
Struggle between Gravity & Heat
Temperature of the cloud is low but random motion exists
Gravitational attraction is ON
But HEAT > GRAVITY
however, accidental clustering of atoms disappears quickly
Thus, as the clustering size increases
GRAVITY gets stronger
but still it is not enough; therefore HEAT > GRAVITY holds
So, the question is:
How many atoms do we need for GRAVITY to win:
1057
Hint-1: Number of sands on all the beaches are 1025
Hint-2: In our entire planet there are 1051 elementary particles (in all nuclei)
2. Formation of Sun like stars
Star formation begins when gravity begins to dominates over heat.
This causes the cloud to lose its equilibrium and starts contracting.
Equilibrium can only be restored when internal structure undergoes several radical changes.
The table lists stages suitable for a star having a mass as that of the Sun.
Stage 1: An Interstellar Cloud
R ~ tens of parsecs (1014 – 1015 km)
T ~ 10 K
ρ ~ 109 particles/m3
M ~ × 103 M☉ (in the form of cold atomic & molecular gas)
Dust will be needed to cool the cloud, but it is not enough yet)
Instability in the interstellar cloud causes it to collapse
Cloud break-up into smaller pieces
This usually happens in "Star Forming Regions"
Instability: (a) other stars, (b) magnetic field
Creates fragmentation
no turning back ➤ collapse
Opt-1: a few dozen stars ( Rstar > R☉ )
Opt-2: hundreds of stars ( Rstar ~ R☉ )
No evidence of "1 cloud ➤ 1 star"
Stage 2: A Collapsing Cloud Fragment
R ~ a few parsecs
T ~ 100 K (still cold)
energy escapes easily because fragment is thin
ρ ~ 1012 particles/m3
M ~ 1-2 M☉
Tcenter > Toutside
If "ρ increases ➤ R decreases"
radiation starts to get trapped
which increases temperature
and causes fragmentation to stop
Stage 3: Fragmentation Ceases
R ~ our solar system
Tcenter ~ 10 000 K
opaques ➤ energy kept inside ➤ causing T to increase
Tsurface ~ 100 K
it radiates into space ➤ it remains cool
ρcenter ~ 1018 particles/m3
ρcenter (change) > ρcouter (change)
It resembles like a star:
dense central region becomes protostar
Surface (photosphere) can be distinguished
Stage 4: A Protostar
Evolves: smaller, denser, hotter
R ~ 108 km (Mercury's orbit)
Tcenter ~ 106 K
107 K needed for nuclear reactions
Tsurface ~ 3 000 K
T is low but R is big ➤ L is large
because as it shrinks it releases gravitational energy
It makes its first appearance on the H-R diagram.
Last Stages
Protostar is not in equilibrium
But Tcenter is hot ➤ INTERNAL PRESSURE ~ GRAVITY
Energy escapes
It diffuses out from hot center to cooler surface
Overall contraction slows down but doesn't stop
The path of decreasing luminosity (from stage 4 to stage 6) is called the Hayashi track.
It exhibits violent surface activity ➤ protostellar winds
At stage 7, the newborn star has arrived on the main sequence.
Stage 5: Protostellar Evolution
R ~ 10 R☉
Tcenter ~ 5 x 106 K
107 K needed for nuclear reactions
Tsurface ~ 4 000 K
L ~ 10 L☉
Gas is completely ionized but protons don't have enough thermal energy
core is still not hot enough
evolution slows down due to HEAT
gravity cannot compress a hot object
Rate of energy produced internally escapes to surface:
is almost equal to contraction rate of the star
If L decreases ➤ contraction rate decreases too
Stage 6: A newborn star
1 M☉ - R ~ 106 km - T ~ 107 K ➤ Nuclear Burning
Bottom of Hayashi track
Tsurface ~ 6 000 K
Stage 7: The Main Sequence At Last
Star contracts a little more
ρ ~ 1032 particles/m3
Tcenter ~ 15 x 106 K
Tsurface ~ 6 000 K
➤ A Main Sequence star
➤ PRESSURE ≣ GRAVITY
➤ Nuclear energy generated (core) ≣ Energy radiated (surface)
Life-time ~ 1010 years
Age (Stage 1-7) ~ 40-50 × 106 years
3. Stars of Other Masses
The Main Sequence (MS) is a band, rather than a line, because stars of the same mass can have different compositions.
Most important: Stars do not move along the Main Sequence!
Once they reach MS, they are in equilibrium and do not move until their fuel begins to run out.
Zero-Age Main Sequence (ZAMS)
Massive Cloud Fragments ➤ MS approach: higher ➤ Massive Stars
In 106 years ➤ Tcenter ~ 107 K ➤ O-type hot stars
Low-mass Cloud Fragments ➤ MS approach: lower ➤ Low-mass Stars
In 109 years ➤ Tcenter ~ 107 K ➤ M-type cool stars (M < 1 M☉ )
ZAMS is the stage when the Hydrogen burning (in the core) stage starts
During the fragmentation from the same cloud (composition & elements are the same)
M determines the star's position on H-R diagram
So, difference in star's composition ➤ make star appear at different places on H-R
Therefore this creates a broad band on H-R (MS).
Failed Stars
Some fragments are too small for fusion ever to begin.
They gradually cool off and become dark “clinkers.”
A protostar must have at least 0.08 M☉ in order to have fusion at core.
If Mfailed star > 12 Mjupiter it is luminous when first formed
A brown dwarf.
4. Observations of Cloud Fragments
Star Formation Phases
The M20 region shows observational evidence for three broad phases in the birth of a star.
The parent cloud is in stage 1.
The region labeled “contracting fragment” likely lies between stages 1 and 2.
Finally, the emission nebula (M20 itself) results from the formation of one or more massive stars (stages 6 and 7).
Orion Nebula
(a) The constellation Orion, with the region around its famous emission nebula marked by a rectangle.
(b) It suggests how the nebula is partly surrounded by a vast molecular cloud. Various parts of this cloud are probably fragmenting and contracting, with even smaller sites forming protostars.
The three frames at the right show some of the evidence for those protostars:
(c) false-color radio image of some intensely emitting molecular sites,
(d) nearly real-color visible image of embedded nebular “knots” thought to harbor protostars, and
(e) high-resolution image of one of many young stars surrounded by disks of gas and dust where planets might ultimately form.
Protostars
(a) An edge-on infrared image of a planetary system-sized dusty disk in the Orion region, showing heat and light emerging from its center.
On the basis of its temperature and luminosity, this unnamed source appears to be a low-mass protostar on the Hayashi track (around stage 5) in the H–R diagram.
(b) An optical, face-on image of a slightly more advanced circumstellar disk surrounding an embedded protostar in Orion.
5. Shock Waves & Star Formation
Shock waves from nearby star formation can be the trigger needed to start the collapse process in an interstellar cloud.
(a) Star birth and
(b) shock waves lead to
(c) more star births and more shock waves in a continuous cycle of star formation in many areas of our Galaxy.
As in a chain reaction, old stars trigger the formation of new stars ever deeper into an interstellar cloud.
Expanding waves of matter:
They crash into surrounding molecular cloud
Interstellar gas tends to pile up and become compressed
Such a shell of gas rushing rapidly through space: shock wave
Other triggers:
Death of a nearby Sun-like star
Supernova
Density waves in galactic spiral arms
Galaxy collisions
6. Star Clusters
The end result of cloud collapse is a group of stars. They are all formed from the same parent cloud and lying in the same region of space.
Star Cluster:
the same place
the same parent cloud
formed at the same time
the same conditions
but different masses
Open Cluster
Found in the plane of Milky Way
They contain from 100s to 10 000s of stars
They contain stars in almost all parts of MS
Age: ~ 100 × 106 years (life-time of B-type stars)
Red stars are young too
Globular Cluster
Spherical in shape
Found away from Milky Way plane.
They contain 100 000s to 1 000 000s of stars
They spread over 50 pc
The lack upper MS stars
O-type through F-type stars have already gone from MS
Age: at least 1010 years (contain oldest stars of the Galaxy)
