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Star formation
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<p>Star formation is the process by which dense regions within <a href="/facts/Molecular_cloud/5jEwCJxs">molecular clouds</a> in <a href="/facts/Interstellar_space/R3LRKyFs">interstellar space</a>—sometimes referred to as "stellar nurseries" or "star-forming regions"—<a href="/facts/Jeans_instability/VBmcPj7Y">collapse</a> and form <a href="/facts/Star/PFbd6ICx">stars</a>. As a branch of <a href="/facts/Astronomy/0ArJVM1p">astronomy</a>, star formation includes the study of the <a href="/facts/Interstellar_medium/mokU0WEz">interstellar medium</a> (ISM) and <a href="/facts/Giant_molecular_cloud/5jEwCJxs">giant molecular clouds</a> (GMC) as precursors to the star formation process, and the study of <a href="/facts/Protostar/fhQYMSBA">protostars</a> and <a href="/facts/Young_stellar_object/Pa6wuNkp">young stellar objects</a> as its immediate products. It is closely related to <a href="/facts/Planet_formation/IT3D6MpE">planet formation</a>, another branch of <a href="/facts/Astronomy/0ArJVM1p">astronomy</a>. Star formation theory, as well as accounting for the formation of a single star, must also account for the statistics of <a href="/facts/Binary_star/TYlDe1bD">binary stars</a> and the <a href="/facts/Initial_mass_function/1qA6vtdY">initial mass function</a>. Most stars do not form in isolation but as part of a group of stars referred as <a href="/facts/Star_cluster/Crs7Y6me">star clusters</a> or <a href="/facts/Stellar_association/urBqjfYg">stellar associations</a>. </p>