Reality Check:
Oops! This author calculates that even at the super-cold background temperature of the universe, thermal velocity of hydrogen atoms exceeds gravitational escape velocity for theoretic proto-star gas clouds.
Gallagher, Jay and Jean Keppel, "Seven Mysteries of Galaxies," Astronomy, vol. 22 (March 1994), pp. 39-45.
p. 39
"Edwin Hubble discovered the basic nature of galaxies
about 70 years ago. Now, in the 1990s we can still say that we are only on
the verge of understanding how galaxies are born, how they work, and what
roles they play in the universe at large."
p. 41
"The process by which galaxies clump together poses a
significant mystery for astronomers."
Hecht, Jeff, "Is the Universe Made of Froth?" New Scientist, vol. 109 (February 13, 1986),
p. 25.
"Observations from the Harvard-Smithsonian
Astrophysical Observatory indicate that bright galaxies are distributed in
space like liquid in a froth of soap bubbles. Sheets containing high
concentrations of galaxies surround regions where no galaxies are visible.
"These new results cast doubt on old ideas of how galaxies formed. Margaret Geller, a theorist in the Harvard team, says there is no completely satisfactory model to explain both the origin of galaxies and their distribution pattern. In models where gravity dominates, galaxies form, but not in the observed distribution. Explosions of massive objects—perhaps a billion years after the big bang at the birth of the Universe—could explain the distribution of galaxies, but not the observed uniformity of the cosmic background radiation."
Keel, William, "Before Galaxies were Galaxies," Astronomy, vol. 25 (July 1997), pp. 59-63. Keel is on the astronomy faculty at the University of Alabama.
p. 59
"Galaxies cause astronomers problems. They’re
lumpy. And yet the earliest light we can see in the universe is smooth. So
how did the universe go from smooth to lumpy, and how did galaxies form?
"It’s one of the great questions of modern astrophysics and cosmology. For many astronomers, searching for the answer has been like the Quest for the Holy Grail, with potential answers constantly receding from view just as they have approached what they thought was the end."
p. 60
"The hunt for primeval galaxies, loosely defined as
galaxies forming their first important generation of stars, has been a
long-running quest of Arthurian proportions—and, some argue, just as
embellished with myth. If most large galaxies really formed during a single
short period, they would have been loaded with brilliant, short-lived blue
stars, making the galaxies correspondingly powerful. If this were so, the
sky would be peppered with primeval galaxies at about 20th magnitude. But
these galaxies are nowhere to be found."
p. 63
"Seeing galaxies form and evolve is most important,
perhaps, not for the details, but as the ultimate signal that ours is indeed
an evolving universe."
Peebles, P. James E., David N. Schramm, Edwin L. Turner, and Richard G. Kron, "The Evolution of the Universe," Scientific American, vol. 271 (October 1994), pp. 53-57.
p. 57
"A pressing challenge now is to reconcile the
apparent uniformity of the early universe with the lumpy distribution of
galaxies in the present universe. Astronomers know that the density of the
early universe did not vary by much, because they observe only slight
irregularities in the cosmic background radiation."
Weinberg, Steven, "Origins," Science, vol. 230 (October 4, 1985), pp. 15-18.
p. 16
"It is also a bit disturbing that all these estimates
of the ages and compositions of the stars rest on elaborate calculations of
what is going on inside them, but all that we observe is the light emitted
from their surfaces."
Windhorst, Roger A., as quoted in Corey S. Powell, "A Matter of Timing," Scientific American (October 1992), pp. 26-29. Windhorst is at Arizona State University.
p. 29
"Nobody really understands how star formation
proceeds; it’s really remarkable."
Wynn-Williams, Gareth, "The Newest Stars in Orion," Scientific American, vol. 245 (August 1981), pp. 46-55.
p. 46
"The more massive the star is, the faster it consumes
its reserves of nuclear fuel…. Because of the brief lifetime Type O and
Type B stars have little opportunity to stray far from their site of birth….
"The constellation Orion abounds in stars of Types O and B…. The youngest of them, which are probably less than a million years old, lie in and around the glorious Orion Nebula, … The close connection between hot young stars and visible gas clouds is strong evidence for the hypothesis that new stars form by condensation out of the interstellar gas."
p. 55
"The discovery that at least some of the infrared
sources once thought to be protostars are more probably very young, massive
stars dramatically shedding mass has some important implications for the
understanding of how new stars form. First of all, it means astronomers may
have to start afresh for the precursors of typical main-sequence stars.
Second, the wind from a large luminous star may have a strong influence,
either positive or negative, on the creation of smaller stars, such as those
resembling the sun. On the one hand, the wind could so badly disrupt the
cloud surrounding it that further star formation would be impossible. On the
other hand, the pressure of wind on the neighboring parts of the cloud could
promote the collapse of further fragments. Third, if a strong wind is a
feature of the early evolution of all stars, not just massive ones, it could
adversely influence the formation of planetary systems."
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