| Hubble can resolve individual stars and many red protostars as well as aging red giants and supergiants, giving astronomers new insights into the stars' birth and evolution. |
| The Orion Nebula is home to hundreds of young stars and even younger protostars known as proplyds. |
| Shrinking under their own gravity, protostars eventually become dense and hot, and their atoms begin to fuse. |
| Protostars have not yet developed the energy-generating capabilities of a normal star such as the sun, which fuses hydrogen into helium in its core. |
| We already knew that planets form in the disks of gas and dust that surround young protostars. |
| Astronomers theorize the flashes are caused by material suddenly being dumped onto the growing stars, known as protostars. |
