New Delhi: Gas and dust, the raw material of star formation are is found in molecular clouds called stellar nurseries. A supernova explosion from a dying star, gravitational interactions by surrounding bodies, or shockwaves from other stars can redistribute the material, forming dense knots that start growing increasingly massive through the process of accretion. The core becomes hot and dense, forming a protostar. Protostars can form rings of infalling material, with the density growing to a point of sustaining nuclear fusion, at which point a star is born. The star burns in the main sequence for billions of years, with smaller stars lasting longer. Once the nuclear fuel runs out, the stars balloons up into the red giant stage, and then violently sheds the outer layers in a supernova explosion, leaving behind a stellar remnant, the dense core of the dead star.

Illustration of a debris disc around a white dwarf. (Image Credit:........

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