What external event often provides the necessary impetus to trigger rapid gravitational collapse in a molecular cloud?
Answer
Shock waves traveling through the galaxy
External events, such as shock waves from a supernova or cloud collisions, provide a sudden shove that compresses the gas, pushing the region past the critical mass needed for collapse.
Related Questions
What fundamental agent is responsible for sculpting a star out of diffuse cosmic matter?Where does the process of star birth primarily take place within the cosmos?What physical condition within GMCs tips the scales in favor of gravity initiating collapse?What concept describes the critical mass a localized segment of a cloud must exceed to begin gravitational collapse?What external event often provides the necessary impetus to trigger rapid gravitational collapse in a molecular cloud?What is the primary energy source sustaining a protostar during its contraction phase?What physical principle causes the collapsing cloud core to flatten into a rotating circumstellar disk?What is the ultimate defining moment that causes an object to officially become a true star?What mechanism allows the system to shed excess angular momentum and permits the central mass to grow?What state is achieved when the outward pressure from nuclear fusion perfectly balances the inward crush of gravity?What is the approximate critical ignition temperature required for a Sun-like star to begin hydrogen fusion?What object forms if a collapsing core fails to reach the temperature needed to sustain hydrogen fusion?