What is the name for the vast, cold cloud where stellar life begins?
Answer
A nebula
The genesis of every star starts within a nebula, which is characterized as a vast, cold cloud composed of interstellar gas and dust. Within this cloud, the process of star formation is initiated when gravity begins to act as a sculptor. Gravity causes localized, denser regions within the nebula to contract. As this immense amount of material collapses inward under its own gravity, the pressure and temperature at the center rise dramatically until the core reaches the critical conditions necessary for nuclear fusion to ignite, marking the official birth of the protostar and its entry onto the Main Sequence.
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