Necessary and sufficient conditions for matter clumping into heavenly bodies?

[ImaLooser]

More generally, what are the necessary and sufficient conditions for matter to clump into heavenly bodies?

I don't know, but I'll guess. It seems sufficient to have particles that attract one another but don't actually merge. Let's focus on two particles. The attraction between the particles acts like a spring which absorbs energy.

As for necessary, there has to be some way that particles influence one another to get rid of kinetic energy relative to one another.

 

[Drakkith]

The energy is radiated away as EM radiation as the particles collide with each other. This allows them to shed their energy and collapse.

 

[Dotini]

Richard Feynman, among other things, was noted for his statement that, "Like likes like".
This means that like-charged particles or molecules attract one another because of an intermediate of opposite charges. This has been demonstrated in an aqueous environment by Norio Ise. This principle has interesting implications for my interest in the formation of clouds, and probably for others in the area of origin of life, and really over a broad range of physics, chemistry, and engineering.
http://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2010/CP/c000729c
http://faculty.washington.edu/ghp/research-themes/origin-of-life/

Respectfully submitted,
Steve