Star formation by collapse of molecular clouds

Simulation by SPH of the collapse and fragmentation of a molecular cloud presented in "The Formation of Stars and Brown Dwarfs and the Truncation of Protoplanetary Discs in a Star Cluster" by Matthew R. Bate, Ian A. Bonnell, and Volker Bromm (http://www.ukaff.ac.uk/starcluster/).

The calculation models the collapse and fragmentation of a molecular cloud with a mass 50 times that of our Sun. The cloud is initially 1.2 light-years (9.5 million million kilometres) in diameter, with a temperature of 10 Kelvin (-263 degrees Celsius).

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• astrophysics
• computational
• physics
• simulation
• SPH

[LeiMagnus]

that was awesome

[WZW1982]

@ActiveStorage I dont think the equilibrium you mention actually exists. i think the irregularities in the orbits of this solar systems celestial bodies are so minute that it would seem to have equilibrium. but it does not. should not be confused with stability however, the orbits are stable, temporarily, and changes are so slight that they will remain that way for eons. but eventually, that stability will come apart. and so will the solar system, like all do. its always changing. thats my guess

[mosquitobight]

The solar system is a multibody problem, but the Sun is such a dominant body that our solar system can be approximated as a series of almost independent two-body problems. Furthermore, the average position of a planet over the course of its year would place its yearly average center of mass inside the Sun or very close to it. Therefore, averaged over thousands of years, the pull of the planets on each other would tend to cancel out, and the system would behave almost as if only the Sun has pull.

[ivandga]

this is really awesome!! wonder how long it took to calculations and everything!

[woxingma8]

But a 4 body problem is easy to balance, so just get yourself another body!

[Xaiano]

@WZW1982 a 3-body system is mathmaticaly impossible to balance and therefore any motion from any of the bodies within it inherantly causes chaos

[heartlessvietboy]

You'd think we know how stars form.

[MisterDax]

Beautiful

[OntologicalQuandary]

Man I had the guy who made this (volker bromm) as a professor for an introductory astronomy course and he was a total fucking badass

[watsisname]

@kos22us

You have it exactly right with star colors and temperature, and no, there's no other color for a main sequence star. I recommend you google "HR diagram", which is a tool that astronomers use to classify stars in this way (color/temperature versus luminosity). Might be interesting for you. :)

[kos22us]

would it be fair to say that main sequence stars only not pre or post, are in color from lowest to highest the following : red,orange,yellow,white,blue-w­hite, and blue being the hottest ? are there any other colors of main seq. stars ? any input would be appreciated thanks

[watsisname]

@adkinsjr

Indeed. It's very sad to see. :/