STAR FORMATION

Star formation is the process by which dense regions

within molecular clouds in interstellar space,
sometimes referred to as "stellar nurseries" or "star-
forming regions", collapse and form stars. The
interstellar medium (ISM) and giant molecular clouds
(GMC) as precursors to the star formation process,
and the study of protostars and young stellar objects
as its immediate products. An interstellar cloud of gas
will remain in hydrostatic equilibrium as long as the
kinetic energy of the gas pressure is in balance with
the potential energy of the internal gravitational force.
Mathematically this is expressed using the virial
theorem, which states that, to maintain equilibrium,
the gravitational potential energy must equal twice
the internal thermal energy.
𝟏 𝑵
VIRIAL THEORM: < 𝑻 >= − ∑𝒌=𝟏 < 𝑭𝒌 𝒓𝒌 >
𝟐
If a cloud is massive enough that the gas pressure is
insufficient to support it, the cloud will undergo
gravitational collapse. The mass above which a cloud
will undergo such collapse is called the Jeans mass.
During cloud collapse dozens to tens of thousands of
stars form more or less simultaneously which is
observable in so-called embedded clusters. The end
product of a core collapse is an open cluster of stars.
Neutron Stars and Pulsars
A neutron star is the collapsed core of a massive
supergiant star, which had a total mass of between
10 and 25 solar masses, possibly more if the star was
especially metal-rich. These are the smallest and
densest currently known class of stellar objects.
Neutron stars have a radius on the order of 10
kilometres (6 mi) and a mass of about 1.4 solar
masses. They result from the supernova explosion of
a massive star, combined with gravitational collapse,
that compresses the core past white dwarf star
density to that of atomic nuclei.

As the star's core collapses, its rotation rate

increases as a result of conservation of angular
momentum, and newly formed neutron stars hence
rotate at up to several hundred times per second.
Some neutron stars emit beams of electromagnetic
radiation that make them detectable as pulsars.
 Black Holes
A black hole is a region of spacetime where gravity is
so strong that nothing – no particles or even
electromagnetic radiation such as light – can escape
from it. The theory of general relativity predicts that a
sufficiently compact mass can deform spacetime to
form a black hole. The boundary of no escape is
called the event horizon. Although it has a great effect
on the fate and circumstances of an object crossing
it, it has no locally detectable features according to
general relativity. In many ways, a black hole acts like
an ideal black body, as it reflects no light.

The quantum field theory in curved spacetime

predicts that event horizons emit Hawking radiation,
with the same spectrum as a black body of a
temperature inversely proportional to its mass. This
temperature is of the order of billionths of a kelvin for
stellar black holes, making it essentially impossible to
observe directly.
 Chandrasekar Limit
The Chandrasekhar limit is the maximum mass of a
stable white dwarf star. The currently accepted value
of the Chandrasekhar limit is about 1.4 M☉
(2.765×1030 kg). The Chandrasekhar limit is the mass
above which electron degeneracy pressure in the
star's core is insufficient to balance the star's own
gravitational self-attraction. Consequently, a white
dwarf with a mass greater than the limit is subject to
further gravitational collapse, evolving into a different
type of stellar remnant, such as a neutron star or
black hole. Those with masses up to the limit remain
stable as white dwarfs.

Tolman–Oppenheimer–Volkoff limit
It is an upper bound to the mass of cold, nonrotating
neutron stars, analogous to the Chandrasekhar limit
for white dwarf stars. If the mass of the said star
reaches the limit it will collapse to a denser form or to
form Black holes.
 INDEX
Sno. Topic Pg.

1 What is gravity? 1
2 Earth’s gravity 2
Newton's law of 3
3 universal gravitation
Einstein’s theory of 4
4 gravitation
5 GRAVITATIONAL WAVES 5
6 DETECTION OF GW 6
Working Principle of 7
7 LIGO
8 Gravitational lensing 8
Neutron Stars and 9
9 Pulsars
10 Black Holes 10

11 Chandrasekar Limit 11
12 BIBLIOGRAPHY 12