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IT'S ASTROTIMEStellar Nurseries
That is the name for regions of space filled with gas and dust and bright young stars!
Active star formation is truly a thing of beauty
just look at this. What can we you in this picture?Look closer....
: prawn nebula/ @ESO
Apart from the (gorgeous) blue stars, there are 2 main features:
1) Very bright areas:
That's where stars have just been born!
The most massive ones are so bright that they can heat the gas up to 10,000 degrees, making it glow! 
2) Dark areas: they look mysterious...
1) Very bright areas:
That's where stars have just been born!
The most massive ones are so bright that they can heat the gas up to 10,000 degrees, making it glow! 2) Dark areas: they look mysterious...
But they're really not 
These dark regions are dense "molecular clouds", that are roughly 1000 times colder than the bright areas!
They eventually fall in on themselves under their own weight, or get squished by the powerful winds of new stars. When they get dense enough...
These dark regions are dense "molecular clouds", that are roughly 1000 times colder than the bright areas!
They eventually fall in on themselves under their own weight, or get squished by the powerful winds of new stars. When they get dense enough...
BAM ! You get brand new stars!!!
These baby stars are super important to life on Earth! Stellar nurseries are FILLED with massive stars that will become Red Super Giants like Betelgeuse and end their lives as Supernovae!
Sounds deadly? That's because it is
These baby stars are super important to life on Earth! Stellar nurseries are FILLED with massive stars that will become Red Super Giants like Betelgeuse and end their lives as Supernovae!
Sounds deadly? That's because it is
But these extreme stars that live fast and die young are the cosmic factories that enrich the Universe!
Without them, no Calcium for your bones, no Oxygen for your lungs, no Carbon for your organic chemistry...
It would be a sad cosmos filled with hydrogen and helium.
Without them, no Calcium for your bones, no Oxygen for your lungs, no Carbon for your organic chemistry...
It would be a sad cosmos filled with hydrogen and helium.
Stars like Betelgeuse create a LOT of space dust from their expansion and pulsations!
Stars like the ones we'll talk about in tomorrow's Live create dust by spinning around each other!
And supernovae just puke new elements all over the place...
Stars like the ones we'll talk about in tomorrow's Live create dust by spinning around each other!
And supernovae just puke new elements all over the place...
In short, stellar nurseries are not only beautiful, they're also the first step towards creating planets and life in the Universe
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#ScienceTwitter
#Space
#Astronomy
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#ScienceTwitter
#Space
#Astronomy
Last thing before I go to bed 
You can see beautiful examples of stellar nurseries in Cathrin's amazing paintings https://twitter.com/Cathrinmachin/status/1292308562102779904?s=19
You can see beautiful examples of stellar nurseries in Cathrin's amazing paintings
https://twitter.com/Cathrinmachin/status/1292308562102779904?s=19
