For high-mass protostars, what mechanism allows energy to escape during contraction, leading to rapid core stabilization?
Answer
The material becoming highly transparent to photons
The physics governing the contraction of very massive protostars dictates that their interiors become extremely hot. This intense heat renders the stellar material highly transparent to the photons generated by gravitational collapse. Consequently, the primary mode of energy transport outward becomes radiation, allowing the released gravitational potential energy to escape swiftly. This efficient radiative cooling mechanism permits the massive object to contract rapidly towards hydrostatic equilibrium, resulting in a very short formation timescale compared to cooler, more opaque stars.
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