What are the three primary forces resisting gravitational collapse in molecular clouds?

Answer

Thermal pressure, magnetic pressure, and turbulent pressure

The initiation of stellar birth requires overcoming several forces that actively resist the inward pull of self-gravity. The first counteracting force is thermal pressure, which stems directly from the internal temperature and the kinetic energy of the gas particles. The second is magnetic pressure, generated by magnetic fields embedded within the cloud which resist being compressed, especially if the field lines are oriented perpendicular to the collapse direction. The third, and often the most significant force in large, active regions, is turbulent pressure, which arises from chaotic, random gas motions driven by energetic internal or external events like supernovae or stellar winds, acting as an additional source of outward velocity-dependent pressure.

What are the three primary forces resisting gravitational collapse in molecular clouds?

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What Initiates Molecular Cloud Collapse? - Physics Frontier - YouTube

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