What force must gravity ultimately overcome for a section of a molecular cloud to begin gravitational collapse?
Answer
Internal gas pressure and magnetic fields
Star formation hinges on a competition of forces within the dense cloud. For a collapse to initiate, the immense, ever-present pull of gravity must gain dominance over the forces that try to keep the gas diffuse and stable. These opposing forces are primarily the internal gas pressure, which results from the slight motion of the particles even at cold temperatures, and the influence of magnetic fields threading through the cloud material. Only when a region becomes dense enough to satisfy the Jeans Mass threshold does gravity become the driving force, leading to the collapse that fragments the cloud and eventually forms protostars.
#Videos
A newly found gas cloud lurks near the solar system | Science News
Related Questions
What is the typical temperature hovering inside a cosmic molecular cloud?What percentage of a molecular cloud's total mass is accounted for by molecular hydrogen ($ ext{H}_2$)?What is the primary scientific importance ascribed to molecular clouds?Why do atomic hydrogen ($ ext{H}$) atoms combine into molecular hydrogen ($ ext{H}_2$) within dense molecular clouds?Why do interstellar molecular clouds appear as dark patches against the Milky Way background?How does the composition of an H I Cloud compare to a Molecular Cloud regarding hydrogen state?What combination of data sources helped confirm the massive, previously undetected local molecular cloud system?What force must gravity ultimately overcome for a section of a molecular cloud to begin gravitational collapse?By mass, what element constitutes nearly 24% of a molecular cloud's composition, second only to molecular hydrogen?What discovery timeline and associated research institutions announced the finding of the massive, previously hidden local cloud?What type of structure glows because nearby hot, young stars excite its gas into luminescence?