Birth of a Star:
(Sfx: 2001 ish music) 
     OUT IN BETWEEN THE STARS, THE VACUUM OF SPACE IS MILLIONS OF TIMES EMPTIER THAN
THE VERY BEST VACUUMS WE CAN CREATE ON EARTH.   THE FEW TEENY PARTICLES ZIPPING
AROUND RARELY COME NEAR EACH OTHER.  

(SFX: Segue into rock-a-bye baby) 

BUT IT'S IN THIS EMPTINESS WHERE THE UNIVERSE GIVES BIRTH TO STARS.  EVEN IN THIS VACCUUM,
THE PARTICLES ARE ATTRACTED TO EACH OTHER BY GRAVITY AND IF ENOUGH COME TOGETHER
THEY'LL BECOME THE SEED THA T GROWS INTO A STAR, SAYS JEFF HESTER. 

     Hester: "So this cloud of gas starts to collapse under the force of gravity, it's going to
start rotating faster, just like the iceskater drawing in her arms rotates faster"

     HESTER IS A PHYSICIST AT ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY WHO HAS USED THE HUBBLE SPACE
TELESCOPE TO GET A CLOSER LOOK AT THIS STAR NURSERY.   HE SAYS THE CLOUD IS A BIG BALL
LIGHT YEARS ACROSS--THAT'S HUNDREDS OF TIMES LARGER THAN OUR WHOLE SOLAR SYSTEM. 
AS IT ROTATES IT BEGINS TO FLATTEN THE SAME WAY THAT SPINNING A BALL OF PIZZA DOUGH
CREATES A FLAT PIZZA.  

     Hester: "Eventually it reaches the point that the very center of the cloud just can't hold
itself up anymore. . . It's a bit like a house of cards that's had a card knocked out of the
bottom layer.  That card goes and the card above it falls. . . and so the inside of this cloud just
starts falling inward layer after layer after layer."

     THE MATERIAL THAT COLLECTS AT THE CENTER TURNS INTO A DENSE STAR.  DURING THIS
PROCESS, THE STAR-TO-BE ALSO EJECTS MASSIVE GAS JETS THAT SHOOT OUT FOR  SEVERAL
LIGHT YEARS.  NO ONE'S QUITE SURE WHY THIS HAPPENS, BUT PERHAPS IT'S A WAY OF SLOWING
DOWN THE ROTATION. 

     Hester: "But the disk also does another interesting thing.  And that is it provides the raw
material for other kinds of structures."

     THE EXTRA MATERIAL ON THE OUTSKIRTS GRADUALLY COMES TOGETHER TO FORM
PLANETS THAT CIRCLE THE STAR.  AND THUS ANOTHER STAR IS BORN.