Old young stars
Monday, November 11, 2013 - 10:30
in Astronomy & Space
(Phys.org) —The early stages of a star's life are critical both for the star and for any future planets that might develop around it. The process of star formation, once thought to involve just the simple coalescence of material under the influence of gravity, actually entails a complex series of stages, with the youngest stars assembling circumstellar disks of material, possibly preplanetary in nature. In the current models, conservation of angular momentum during the collapse of cloud cores leads to the formation of these discs. The presence and evolution of these circumstellar discs is important both for the planets that form from them and for the star itself.