The Process of Triggered Star Formation FEB. 15/2018 VIDEO: This animation illustrates the process of triggered star formation. First, a massive star in its final death throes explodes or "goes supernova," shooting a shock wave through surrounding clouds of gas and dust. Next, the shock wave compresses the gas and dust, gravity kicks in, and finally, a new wave of stars is born. The whole progression, from the death of one star to the birth of others, takes millions of years to complete. In a sm

Exploring Star and Planet Formation This animation explores the stages in the formation of stars and planets. Within a large, dense cloud, thousands of protostars collapse due to gravity. The infalling material forms a disk around the protostar, with jets emitted perpendicular to the disk. Planets condense and build up within the disk, establishing a new solar system. The Webb Space Telescope’s infrared observations will peer into these dark clouds and dusty disks to examine this formation proce