Where Stars Are Born
Students learn how gravity collapses cold clouds of gas and dust into spinning disks, protostars and new stars, and how young star clusters form and drift apart.
Grades 5-8About 15 minutes of narrated flight, plus discussion stops7 stops
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What students will see and do
Students fly through three views of the Orion Nebula, the Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula, two views of the Pleiades cluster and finally the Sun as Aetherion explains each step of star birth. The class can pause to discuss at the Eagle Nebula and Sun stops.
Learning objectives
- Describe the role of gravity in collapsing a gas cloud into a star.
- Sequence the stages of star formation from cold cloud to protostar to fusion.
- Explain why young stars form disks and how planets can form in them.
- Explain why star clusters like the Pleiades drift apart over time.
NGSS connections
| MS-ESS1-2 | Students develop a model of the role of gravity in collapsing clouds, forming disks and holding star clusters together. |
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Stops on this journey
- A Cloud in the Sword
- How a Star Begins
- Newborns and Their Disks
- The Pillars of Creation (discussion stop)
- A Family of Young Stars
- A Family Drifting Apart
- Your Sun's Birthplace (discussion stop)
Vocabulary
- nebula
- protostar
- fusion
- gravity
- star cluster
- protoplanetary disk
- ultraviolet
- erosion