A Narrative Review of the Formation of Stars and Galaxies
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Published
Jul 22, 2024
Abstract
The formation of stars and galaxies is considered one of the most intriguing and fundamental phenomena in the field of astrophysics. The combination of gravity, nuclear fusion, and the enormous expanse of space is the major driving force behind cosmic evolution. Gaining knowledge about the processes of star formation, development, and eventual destruction, as well as the formation and evolution of galaxies over billions of years, reveals the complex and interconnected nature of our universe. This article discusses the complex processes involved in the creation of stars and galaxies. It explores the scientific hypotheses, observational evidence, and technological breakthroughs that have enhanced our understanding of these celestial phenomena.
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Keywords
Stars, Galaxies, Astrophysics, Formation, Universe
References
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27. McGaugh SS, Lelli F, Schombert JM. Radial acceleration relation in rotationally supported galaxies. Phys Rev Lett 2016; 117:201101. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.201101
28. Scharf C. How black holes shape the galaxies, stars and planets around them. Sci Am 2012; 307(2):34-39. Available at: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-black-holes-shape-galaxies-stars-planets-around-them/
29. Simcoe R. The cosmic web. American Scientist. Last access: June 23, 2024. Available at: https://www.americanscientist.org/article/the-cosmic-web
30. Koren M. Look at what happens when two galaxies collide. The Atlantic. Last access: June 23, 2024. Available at: https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2022/08/galaxy-mergers-colliding-cosmic-matter-milky-way-andromeda/671164/
31. Yang Y, Bartos I, Gayathri V, Ford KES, Haiman Z, Klimenko S, Kocsis B, Márka S, Márka Z, McKernan B, O’Shaughnessy R. Hierarchical black hole mergers in active galactic nuclei. Phys Rev Lett 2019; 123:201101. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.123.181101
32. Lacerna I, Hernández-Toledo HM, Avila-Reese V, Abonza-Sane J, Del Olmo A. Isolated elliptical galaxies in the local Universe. Astronomy & Astrophysics 2016; 588: A79. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201527844
33. Struck C. Galaxy collisions. Phys Rep 1999; 321:1-137. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0370-1573(99)00030-7
34. Barnes JE. Transformations of galaxies – III. Encounter dynamics and tidal response as functions of galaxy structure. Mon Not R Astron Soc 2015; 455:1957-1980. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stv2381
35. Gardner S, McDermott SD, Yanny B. The Milky Way, coming into focus: Precision astrometry probes its evolution and its dark matter. Prog Part Nucl Phys 2021; 121:103904. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ppnp.2021.103904
36. Barnes J, Hernquist L, Schweizer F. Colliding Galaxies. Sci Am 1991; 265(2):40-47.
37. Lambas DG, Alonso S, Mesa V, O’Mill AL. Galaxy interactions. Astron Astrophys 2012; 539:A45. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201117900
2. Mathis JS. Nebula. Encyclopedia Britannica. Last access: May 31, 2024. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/science/nebula
3. Hodge PW. Galaxy. Encyclopedia Britannica. Last access: July 13, 2024. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/science/galaxy
4. NASA. What does Hubble's Law mean? Last access: July 13, 2024. Available at: https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/features/yba/M31_velocity/hubble_law/hubble_meaning.html
5. Lada CJ. Star formation in the galaxy: An observational overview. Prog Theor Phys Supp 2005; 158:1-23. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1143/PTPS.158.1
6. NASA. A guide to understanding stellar evolution. Last access: July 13, 2024. Available at: https://chandra.si.edu/stellarev/
7. Arnould M, Goriely S. The p-process of stellar nucleosynthesis: Astrophysics and nuclear physics status. Phys Rep 2003; 384(1-2):1-84. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0370-1573(03)00242-4
8. Grinin L, Grinin A. The star-galaxy era in terms of big history and universal evolution. J Big Hist 2019; 3(4):69-92. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22339/jbh.v3i4.3444
9. Mason BH, Tayler RJ, Lagowski JJ. Chemical element. Encyclopedia Britannica, Last access: June 19, 2024. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/science/chemical-element
10. Stahler SW. Protostars. In: Gargaud, M., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. pISBN: 978-3-642-11271-3. 2011; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-11274-4_1304
11. Kochanek CS. Constraints on core collapse from the black hole mass function. Mon Not R Astron Soc 2015; 446(2):1213-1222. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stu2056
12. Ahmad A, González M, Hennebelle P, Commerçon B. The birth and early evolution of a low-mass protostar. Astron Astrophys 2023; 680 A23. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202346711
13. Reid IN. Brown Dwarfs. In: Oswalt, T.D., Barstow, M.A. (eds) Planets, Stars and Stellar Systems. Springer, Dordrecht. pISBN: 978-94-007-5614-42013. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5615-1_7
14. Britannica T. Stellar classification. Encyclopedia Britannica. Last access: May 17, 2024. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/science/stellar-classification
15. Mignon-Risse R, Oliva A, González M, Kuiper R, Commerçon B. Disk fragmentation around a massive protostar: Comparison of two 3D codes. Astron Astrophys 2023; 672:A88. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202243514
16. Vinyard RL, Pfeiffer JJ. Using Color Component Overlays for Result Visualization in a Classification by Sketch System. In: Blackwell, A.F., Marriott, K., Shimojima, A. (eds) Diagrammatic Representation and Inference. Diagrams 2004. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2004; 2980. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. pISBN: 978-3-540-21268-3. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-25931-2_51
17. Xiang M, Rix HW. A time-resolved picture of our Milky Way's early formation history. Nature 2022; 603:599-603. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04496-5
18. Robin AC, Reylé C, Derrière S, Picaud S. A synthetic view on structure and evolution of the Milky Way. Astron Astrophys 2003; 409(2):523-540. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:20031117
19. Hodge PW. Milky Way Galaxy. Encyclopedia Britannica, Last access: July 11, 2024. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/place/Milky-Way-Galaxy
20. ESA. How does Gaia study the Milky Way? Last access: July 10, 2024. Available at: https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Gaia/How_does_Gaia_study_the_Milky_Way
21. NASA. Dark matter & dark energy. Last access: July 10, 2024. Available at: https://science.nasa.gov/universe/dark-matter-dark-energy/
22. Bovy J. Dynamics and Astrophysics of Galaxies. Last access: July 10, 2024. Available at: https://galaxiesbook.org/chapters/II-02.-Galactic-Rotation.html
23. Bernardeau F, Colombi S, Gaztañaga E, Scoccimarro R. Large-scale structure of the Universe and cosmological perturbation theory. Phys Rep 2002; 367(1–3):1-248. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0370-1573(02)00135-7
24. Hecht J. Dark matter: What's the matter? Nature 2016; 537:S194-S197. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/537S194a
25. Battat JBR, Irastorza IG, Aleksandrov A, Asada T, Baracchini E, Billard J, Bosson G, Bourrion O, Bouvier J, Buonaura A, Burdge K, Cebrián S, Colas P, Consiglio L, Dafni T, D’Ambrosio N, Deaconu C, De Lellis G, Descombes T, Di Crescenzo A, Di Marco N, Druitt G, Eggleston R, Ferrer-Ribas E, Fusayasu T, Galán J, Galati G, García JA, Garza JG, Gentile V, Garcia-Sciveres M, Giomataris Y, Guerrero N, Guillaudin O, Guler AM, Harton J, Hashimoto T, Hedges MT, Iguaz FJ, Ikeda T, Jaegle I, Kadyk JA, Katsuragawa T, Komura S, Kubo H, Kuge K, Lamblin J, Lauria A, Lee ER, Lewis P, Leyton M, Loomba D, Lopez JP, Luzón G, Mayet F, Mirallas H, Miuchi K, Mizumoto T, Mizumura Y, Monacelli P, Monroe J, Montesi MC, Naka T, Nakamura K, Nishimura H, Ochi A, Papevangelou T, Parker JD, Phan NS, Pupilli F, Richer JP, Riffard Q, Rosa G, Santos D, Sawano T, Sekiya H, Seong IS, Snowden-Ifft DP, Spooner NJC, Sugiyama A, Taishaku R, Takada A, Takeda A, Tanaka M, Tanimori T, Thorpe TN, Tioukov V, Tomita H, Umemoto A, Vahsen SE, Yamaguchi Y, Yoshimoto M, Zayas E. Readout technologies for directional WIMP Dark Matter detection. Phys Rep 2016; 662:1-46. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physrep.2016.10.001
26. Yepes G, Gottlöber S, Hoffman Y. Dark matter in the Local Universe. New Astron Rev 2014; 58:1-18. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.newar.2013.11.001
27. McGaugh SS, Lelli F, Schombert JM. Radial acceleration relation in rotationally supported galaxies. Phys Rev Lett 2016; 117:201101. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.201101
28. Scharf C. How black holes shape the galaxies, stars and planets around them. Sci Am 2012; 307(2):34-39. Available at: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-black-holes-shape-galaxies-stars-planets-around-them/
29. Simcoe R. The cosmic web. American Scientist. Last access: June 23, 2024. Available at: https://www.americanscientist.org/article/the-cosmic-web
30. Koren M. Look at what happens when two galaxies collide. The Atlantic. Last access: June 23, 2024. Available at: https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2022/08/galaxy-mergers-colliding-cosmic-matter-milky-way-andromeda/671164/
31. Yang Y, Bartos I, Gayathri V, Ford KES, Haiman Z, Klimenko S, Kocsis B, Márka S, Márka Z, McKernan B, O’Shaughnessy R. Hierarchical black hole mergers in active galactic nuclei. Phys Rev Lett 2019; 123:201101. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.123.181101
32. Lacerna I, Hernández-Toledo HM, Avila-Reese V, Abonza-Sane J, Del Olmo A. Isolated elliptical galaxies in the local Universe. Astronomy & Astrophysics 2016; 588: A79. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201527844
33. Struck C. Galaxy collisions. Phys Rep 1999; 321:1-137. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0370-1573(99)00030-7
34. Barnes JE. Transformations of galaxies – III. Encounter dynamics and tidal response as functions of galaxy structure. Mon Not R Astron Soc 2015; 455:1957-1980. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stv2381
35. Gardner S, McDermott SD, Yanny B. The Milky Way, coming into focus: Precision astrometry probes its evolution and its dark matter. Prog Part Nucl Phys 2021; 121:103904. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ppnp.2021.103904
36. Barnes J, Hernquist L, Schweizer F. Colliding Galaxies. Sci Am 1991; 265(2):40-47.
37. Lambas DG, Alonso S, Mesa V, O’Mill AL. Galaxy interactions. Astron Astrophys 2012; 539:A45. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201117900
How to Cite
Wolfgang, N. A. (2024). A Narrative Review of the Formation of Stars and Galaxies. Science Insights, 45(1), 1439–1446. https://doi.org/10.15354/si.24.re1031
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