29:50 Modern Astronomy
Fall 2002
Lecture 14...October 7, 2002
Where do stars come from?

1. The truth is out there. The main clues to star formation are visible in the sky.

2. Two facts that help guide us.

• O stars don't last long. If we see them, they will usually be close to where they formed.
• There are objects called open star clusters. They are clusters of stars that were formed together. Since the Sun isn't in one now, we can guess that stars are born in bunches.

3. Let's look at images of the sky that will help us piece together a picture. Open Star Clusters

• star map positions of Pleiades and h & Persei
• Picture of h & Persei.... Picture of H and chi Persei
• Picture of Pleiades....

4. The Rosette Nebula: a young cluster in a nebula

• Overview of Rosette
• Dark Clouds in Rosette Nebula

5. The Orion Nebula: Prototype of star formation regions

• Orion Nebula
• Orion Nebula showing famous Horsehead Nebula
• Detail of Horsehead Nebula

6. Pictures from your textbook to look at. The following figures should be looked at. They show impressive pictures of the vicinities of young star clusters. Figures 22.6, 22.9, 22.12, 22.13, 22.14, 22.15, 22.16, 22.17,22.18,22.19.

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