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gaseous fragmentation | ||||
subject | fact |
gaseous fragmentation | has definition The systematic breakup of a gas cloud into smaller and smaller subunits as the gas cools and continues to collapse. The gravitational forces continually overtake the opposing pressure gradients as long as the cloud is able to radiate freely; consequently, the Jeans mass decreases, and fragments divide into smaller subfragments. The process stops only when opacity intervenes to inhibit the cooling and radiation. | |
is a kind of contraction | ||
physical process | has domain physics |