Above: A vast emission nebula, where stars are conceived.
There are places where the thin gas between the stars is just a bit thicker: Nebulae. Billions of years ago, a supernova’s shockwave hit one. It broke the nebula into knots, about a light year wide, called Bok Globules*.
Gravity took over, compressing these clouds until they blocked all light. Inside the clouds huge spheres of collapsing gas formed. Compression heats things and gravity is really good at compression**: The spheres started glowing.
The temperature kept rising.
Hydrogen atoms started fusing together, generating massive amounts of energy - they became stars … and one was our Sun.
Lucky us, eh?
* Yes, I know that sounds like something you cough up
**If you’ve ever given a five year old a shoulder ride for a long period of time, your vertebra know what I mean.
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| These dark clouds are Bok Gobules, floating in a sea of pinkly glowing hydrogen gas. |
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