What is the observable characteristic of a protostar, distinguishing it from a main-sequence star?
Answer
It is hot enough to emit infrared radiation but lacks sustained nuclear fusion
A protostar is a contracting object in the core that glows faintly due to compression and emits infrared radiation, but it has not yet reached the necessary core temperature for sustained hydrogen fusion.
Related Questions
What scientific term is used for the vast, diffuse clouds of gas and dust where stars are born?What is the primary composition of the immense molecular clouds that serve as stellar nurseries?Why is the extreme coldness inside a GMC crucial for the initiation of star formation?What characteristic strongly suggests that GMCs function primarily as 'cluster factories'?What physical process is described as the entire mechanism hinging upon for star birth?What is the observable characteristic of a protostar, distinguishing it from a main-sequence star?Approximately how long does the sequence from initial dense core to a stable, Sun-sized main-sequence star take?Why are observations of early star formation within GMCs heavily reliant on instruments sensitive to longer wavelengths?What is the significance of outflows ejected from a protostar’s poles during its dynamic stage?What specific task can telescopes like ALMA perform that optical telescopes cannot regarding star formation regions?