A "Dust" question

[boris]

What is this "thing" called "DUST" that astronomers are using way too much in their atempt to give us the right picture about what is happening in the Universe?

[timeshifter]

space dust, aka space debris

[budcamp]

After the big bang there was energy galore, but no matter.

When the Universe cooled down matter developed and gravity pulled it into units.

Some of these units continued to gather together into suns, planets, comets, etc. The parts that have not gathered into larger masses are the dust that you refer to.

[budcamp]

After the big bang there was energy galore, but no matter.

When the Universe cooled down matter developed and gravity pulled it into units.

Some of these units continued to gather together into suns, planets, comets, etc. The parts that have not gathered into larger masses are the dust that you refer to.

[timeshifter]

Exactly what I was thinking. When space debris cools down and forms planets, you get what you are standing on. However, some planets do not like the idea of stopping the chain, so they go on. They pull themselves together and form something like the size of a star.

Now, this is where it gets interesting. When the new object gains enough mass, it will eventually have a pull so powerful, that it will actually start to move the inside of the object (nuclear fusion). After this happens, the crust will start to melt and it will begin emmiting its radiation (nuclear fission). When a star burns off all its nuclear power, it may just go boom (nova/supernova), or it may settle down into a dwarf star or neutron star (about three to ten times the size of earth, but purely neutrons).

Either of these will eventually spin themselves apart and start the whole dang sequence over again.