I've got what should be a really simple question about star formation...
We are told that after the big bang, the universe expanded and eventually stars formed from the immense clouds of hydrogen and helium gas that stretched across the galaxy.
However, one of the fundamental properties of a gas, is that it attempts to expand as much as possible and will repel other molecules around it. This principal is what keeps the tyres inflated on our cars.
This being the case, I would have expected no star formation to ever have taken place. What force could act upon a body of dispersed gas and initiate the process of causing it condense into a liquid? I can understand perfectly that our sun now holds itself together by gravity. But I would have thought that this force only comes into being when a vast amount of matter is densely packed into an object such as our sun.
Is it possible that gravity can overcome a gas's attempt to expand even when there is initially no concentrated mass of matter?
Ian
Edited by Hoof Hearted, : No reason given.
Edited by Hoof Hearted, : No reason given.
Edited by Adminnemooseus, : Added the "(Star Condensation)" part to the topic title.
™ Version 4.2