Question

a star is initially formed from an interstellar cloud fragment. Consider a fragment of 0.4 light-year in diameter is rotating slowly such that in one million year it makes one revolution. Due to supernova nearby or some other reason, it now begins to collapse.

A. During the collapse the mass remains constant, estimate the period of the cloud's rotation when it has shrunk to the size of the solar nebula, 100 AU across.

B. Estimate the period of the cloud's rotation when it has shrunk to the size of Earth's orbit, 2 AU across.

Answer 1