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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 August 2015
The view that dust is essential to star formation is challenged on the ground that other interstellar constituents can provide more rapid cooling. From the evidence of stellar minimum masses it is suggested that self absorption of the radiation emitted by the coolant H2 is the dominant mechanism leading to the heating of a collapsing fragment. It is however shown that extensive dust and molecule formation may take place during star formation and that a natural explanation for the 4 terrestrial planets in the neighbourhood of the Sun is then provided.