A protostar is different from a star in that a protostar cannot be seen because it is enveloped in dust. As the mass falls together it gets hot. Start studying protostar. These disks probably slow the rotation of the protostar, and sometimes coalesce into planetary systems.

Finally, after millions of years, some of these struggling stars reach the tipping point.

This stage of stellar evolution may last for between 100,000 and 10 million years depending on the size of the star being formed. The protostar is simply the core of the disk that formed from the clump of gas that was compressed inside the gas cloud. Unlike a star, a protostar does not have any fusion in its core yet. As the protostar … Protostar. A star is formed when it is hot enough for the hydrogen nuclei to fuse together to make helium.

As the cloud collapses, is begins to spin and by the time a protostar is formed, the cloud flattens and there is a protostellar disk spinning around the protostar. Known as a protostar, it is this hot core at the heart of the collapsing cloud that will one day become a star. During this time, and up until hydrogen burning begins and it joins the main sequence, the object is known as a protostar.

A protostar is formed about a million years after a gas clump from an interstellar gas cloud has started to rotate and form a disk. 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 protostar is hotter than the gas it condensed from yet is still cooler than ordinary stars.

If enough mass (0.1 solar mass) collapses into the protostar, a bipolar flow occurs. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools.

Material continues to flow into the protostar, providing increased mass and heat.