Zooming into Star Formation in a GMC

This shows the formation of a star cluster from a turbulent giant molecular cloud (GMC), zooming into smaller scales. Shocks form dense filaments that collapse to form stars. The orange shows the gas, blue shows newly formed stars. Radiation from those stars heats and blows away the medium around until it disperses. The dense, clustered nuggets form new star clusters.

© Philip Hopkins 2015