Gas diffusion in space.

Question

Hey all,

I was wondering about how stars are made from gas clouds. Shouldn’t gas always diffuse within the container it is in? In this case, diffuse into space?

So how do gas clouds accumulate enough mass to form a star, instead of all gas diffusing into empty space?

Thanks for any insights!

In: 2

Answer 1

Because of gravity. When a lot of gas is close to other gas particles, gravity is stronger than gas diffusion, allowing for stars. This is also why, more often than not, bigger planets are gas giants.