- #1
fastartcee
- 5
- 0
As I understand it, the stars in a globular cluster have orbits with a whole range of eccentricities and directions of motion, giving the cluster an overall spherical shape, with a greater density of stars toward the center.
How did the overall cloud out of which the globular cluster arose ever get such properties? How did clumps of the cloud ever get such a range of momentums? One would think that the overall cloud would have had a net rotational inertia, and that gravitational collapse would have occurred in the direction parallel to the axis of rotation... at least to some degree.
Is there a theory or conjecture that the overall cloud originated in some colossal explosion, and perhaps pre-existing complex, twisted magnetic fields gave rise to the range of momentum--both magnitude and direction--of the clumps that collapsed within the cloud to form the population of stars we see today?
Please excuse me if this question is worded poorly, but I am strictly an amateur/layman with an ongoing interest in cosmology.
How did the overall cloud out of which the globular cluster arose ever get such properties? How did clumps of the cloud ever get such a range of momentums? One would think that the overall cloud would have had a net rotational inertia, and that gravitational collapse would have occurred in the direction parallel to the axis of rotation... at least to some degree.
Is there a theory or conjecture that the overall cloud originated in some colossal explosion, and perhaps pre-existing complex, twisted magnetic fields gave rise to the range of momentum--both magnitude and direction--of the clumps that collapsed within the cloud to form the population of stars we see today?
Please excuse me if this question is worded poorly, but I am strictly an amateur/layman with an ongoing interest in cosmology.