What is the required final condition for a protostar to be officially designated a true star (main-sequence star)?
Answer
Achieving hydrostatic equilibrium through sustained nuclear fusion
The collapse ceases only when the central temperature and density initiate nuclear fusion, producing outward pressure that perfectly counterbalances the inward crush of gravity, establishing hydrostatic equilibrium.
#Videos
What Causes A Nebula To Collapse? - Physics Frontier - YouTube
Related Questions
What is the fundamental force responsible for initiating the collapse of a diffuse nebula?What are the primary chemical constituents of a nebula by mass?What mathematical description represents the initial balance between internal gas pressure and self-gravity in a stable cloud?What critical threshold must a region's mass exceed for the cloud to become gravitationally unstable and begin collapse?Which external event is theorized to have triggered the formation of our own solar system?What process efficiently carries away heat during the early stages of contraction, preventing thermal pressure from halting the collapse?What energy source powers a protostar during its phase of contraction before fusion begins?What happens when the collapsing core reaches a density high enough (around $10^{-13} ext{ g/cm}^3$) to form the first hydrostatic core?What feature surrounds a protostar, dictated by the conservation of angular momentum, which channels infalling material onto the growing stellar object?What is the required final condition for a protostar to be officially designated a true star (main-sequence star)?