Stars are believed by some to be born rapidly, somewhat like popcorn. In the process of star formation, enormous clouds of gas collapse under their own gravity, they heat until they suddenly rapidly expand similar to how popcorn kernels pop when heated. As these interstellar clouds, composed mainly of hydrogen and helium, begin to shrink under gravity, the atoms within them to come closer together. The popcorn theory of star formation suggests that stars are born stochastically within a central molecular gas ring without following a specific age trend. The formation of stars within these rings is likened to the random and explosive emergence of stars from collapsing gas clouds, drawing an analogy to the sudden expansion and transformation seen in popcorn popping. The ring structure plays a crucial role in this theory as it provides the environment where stars are born in a stochastic manner, contributing to the unique characteristics of star formation within these regions[11][12].
The start of fusion reactions causes a rapid heating and expansion, akin to popcorn kernels as they transform into fluffy popcorn.[1][2][3].
New 3-D computer simulations have challenged the leading theory on the birthplace of our sun, resetting the search for its origins, astronomers report. Stars like the sun usually form in clusters, some dispersing over time while others remain close due to gravity. The sun, now solitary, likely left its birth cluster or drifted away 4.5 billion years ago. Messier 67 (M67) was a prime candidate for the sun’s birthplace, but recent studies cast doubt on this theory. Computer models suggest an improbable scenario where specific gravitational interactions would have flung the sun out of M67, risking destruction of our solar system. This revelation deepens the mystery of where our sun truly originated[6].
Citations
[1] https://faculty.wcas.northwestern.edu/infocom/The%20Website/birth.html
[2] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-is-a-star-born/
[3] https://www.esa.int/kids/en/learn/Our_Universe/Stars_and_galaxies/Star_birth
[4] https://forums.space.com/threads/theory-of-creation-popcorn-theory.65085/
[5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8A5Hv9l499w
[6] https://tea4avcastro.tea.state.tx.us/thl/THLG8Phase2_C.pdf
[7] https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~112/notes/open-trivia-one-word-answers.txt
[8] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2616lyfV3E
[9] https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/978-3-642-11602-5.pdf
[10] https://tea4avcastro.tea.state.tx.us/thl/THL2.SPAN.12th.Final.pdf
[11] https://authors.library.caltech.edu/records/q1k10-qan82/preview/aa25402-14.pdf
[12] https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/pdf/2013/03/aa20285-12.pdf
[13] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddpPSmWEj3s