gravitational collapse

noun

Astronomy.

1. the final stage of stellar evolution in which a star collapses to a final state, as a white dwarf, neutron star, or black hole, when the star's nuclear reactions no longer generate enough pressure to balance the attractive force of gravity.

2. the initial stage of stellar evolution in which interstellar gases and dust contract under gravity and condense into one or more stars.

gravitational collapse

1. The implosion of a star or other celestial body as a result of its own gravity, resulting in a body that is many times smaller and denser than the original body.

2. The process by which stars, star clusters, and galaxies form from interstellar gas under the influence of gravity. Clusters of matter are drawn together by gravitational pull, with additional matter continuing to accumulate until the growing nebula develops into even denser gaseous bodies such as stars or groups of stars.

Example Sentences

"Supermassive dark stars are extremely bright, giant, yet puffy clouds made primarily out of hydrogen and helium, which are supported against gravitational collapse by the minute amounts of self-annihilating dark matter inside them," Ilie said.

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According to this scenario, some 4.5 billion years ago, the original body grew massive enough that the heat from its gravitational collapse and radioactive elements partially melted the rocks, which separated into layers.

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This could mean that the parallel fields from less dense regions feed material into denser ones, where fields are strong enough to limit gravitational collapse despite the additional star-forming material, the researchers say.

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In this theory, scientists hypothesize that a planet like Jupiter forms when part of a circumstellar disk becomes dense and cool enough to be vulnerable to gravitational collapse.

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The smallest, like 'the Unicorn,' are so-called stellar mass black holes formed by the gravitational collapse of a single star.

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