angular momentum
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How Did the Milky Way Form?
Over the course of my last eight posts, we’ve covered just about everything there is to cover about our home galaxy — or, well, at least the basics. We’ve explored how astronomers first discovered what that incredible, milky stream of…
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The Story of a Newborn Star
What happens when a star is born? A couple of posts ago, I explained how a protostar forms out of a dense cloud core within the interstellar medium. But…wait. What exactly is a protostar again? A protostar forms when one…
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How are Stars Born?
Astronomers have discovered that the clouds of gas and dust — the interstellar medium (ISM) — found between the stars are made of the same materials as the stars themselves. In fact, hydrogen is the most common element in both…
