Star formation

Astronomers are excited to get their first look at a clump of gas they think is about to start forming stars. Unlike others seen, this one is "pristine," unaffected by the violent stellar winds and supernova shocks from other nearby stars.

HowStuffWorks "How are stars formed?"

Stages of Star System Formation

WASTED on Instagram: "The Antennae Galaxies (NGC 4038 and NGC 4039) collided gravitationally, forming a vast heart-like shape visible in space. Located 60 million light years away, they have been merging for a billion years, triggering star formation through colliding interstellar gases. Their iconic antennae structures and cosmic dance are expected to continue for another billion years."

Stars ~ The most widely recognized astronomical objects, and represent the most…

@yoanamilanova #ideogram

This view of the globular cluster NGC 6362 was captured by the Wide Field Imager attached to the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile. Credit: ESO/J. Emerson/VISTA. Acknowledgment: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit Past observations of globular star clusters have revealed that they are some of the oldest objects in the Universe, … Continue reading "Beautiful Star Cluster Looks Surprisingly Youthful"

The evolution of stars in our Universe. Full size (and printable) version of this and other Astronomy Infographics.

Elements are formed deep within the cores of certain types of star. Find out more in this interactive.

Space Photos of the Week: Aint Nobody Outshining This Sassy Star

Cool Halo Gas Caught Spinning Like Galactic Disks

The Tarantula Nebula, within the Large Magellanic Cloud, is an especially fertile region for star formation. ESA/Hubble & NASA

Solar System Formation

This diagram shows the stellar evolution of low-mass stars (on the left) and high-mass stars (on the right.)

Each experiment like this allows physicists to tease out the properties of the early cosmos after the Big Bang

Some 60 million light-years away in the southerly constellation Corvus, two large galaxies are colliding. The stars in the two galaxies, cataloged as NGC 4038 and NGC 4039, very rarely collide in the course of the ponderous cataclysm, lasting hundreds of millions of years. But their large clouds of molecular gas and dust often do, triggering furious episodes of star formation near the center of the cosmic wreckage. NASA/ESA/Hubble, R.W. Olsen - Processing: Federico Pelliccia and Rolf Wahl…