https://hackerpaper.kaipfister.de/p/astro-ph_0006082/Collected HN comments and submissions linking this paper.enMon, 02 Nov 2026 11:16:22 GMThttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17845195urn:hackerpapers:mention:astro-ph_0006082:17845195Sun, 26 Aug 2018 10:15:26 GMT<p>Fun aside: Given the relation between temperature and density (i.e. hot gas is less dense than cold gas and compressing gases heats them up), it takes a large disturbance to coax interstellar gases to get dense enough to cause the cascading accumulation that becomes a star. Metals play a critical role in this process [1]. By radiating away heat, they form the cool nuggets around which stellar material can accumulate. More metal in a gas cloud means faster star formation. That, by reducing the accumulation period before fusion blows away un-captured mass, produces smaller stars. But what about…</p><p><a href="https://hackerpaper.kaipfister.de/p/astro-ph_0006082/">Paper and discussion history</a>. A mention is not an endorsement.</p>astro-ph