A protostar shines primarily because of the energy released from which ongoing process?
Answer
Ongoing gravitational contraction
A protostar is not yet a true star because it does not generate energy through sustained nuclear fusion; its luminosity comes solely from the energy released by gravitational contraction.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the immense, cold clouds of gas and dust floating in space, serving as the universe's star factories, scientifically referred to as?What two elements constitute the predominant composition of these stellar birthplaces, having been forged in the Big Bang?What is the name given to some of the largest structures among these cosmic clouds, capable of forming thousands of Sun-like stars?For a region within a nebula to begin forming a star, gravity must win the tug-of-war against what opposing force?What common event often provides the necessary external compression to trigger the collapse of a relatively stable cloud fragment?What is the initial, glowing, collapsing object formed when gravitational collapse begins, prior to sustained nuclear fusion?A protostar shines primarily because of the energy released from which ongoing process?What spinning structure forms around a protostar, feeding material onto the central object and later forming planetary building blocks?What mass threshold must a collapsing core exceed to become hot and dense enough to initiate sustained hydrogen fusion and become a true star?What object results if a collapsing core does not accrete enough mass to ignite sustained hydrogen fusion?What process is responsible for dictating the formation of star clusters rather than completely isolated single stars?What critical core temperature must be reached for hydrogen fusion to begin, stabilizing the object onto the main sequence?