the birth of spica
A few million years ago, a huge cloud of dust and gas in space began to collapse. This was caused by the shockwave of an exploding star. As the cloud collapsed, it split in half, and the halves split, and so on. Each time a piece of the cloud split, the pieces became increasingly hot, triggering nuclear fusion which formed the protostars for Spica.
Nuclear fusion
Here is a visual of how nuclear fusion happens.
Nuclear fusion happens in the core of stars, where pressure is incredibly high and temperatures can be higher than 15 million Kelvin. These are very extreme, but the conditions are necessary for nuclear fusion.
Once the pressure and temperature are proper for nuclear fusion. First, two hydrogen atoms are merged together to make a deuterium. Then the deuterium is merged with another hydrogen atom and a tritium atom is formed. Then, two tritium atoms are merged together and make a helium atom! All of this taking place is an exothermic reaction so the energy is released in the form of gamma rays. When nuclear fusion starts, the star enters its main sequence. Click on the graphic below to see a page that explains nuclear fusion a little more.
Once the pressure and temperature are proper for nuclear fusion. First, two hydrogen atoms are merged together to make a deuterium. Then the deuterium is merged with another hydrogen atom and a tritium atom is formed. Then, two tritium atoms are merged together and make a helium atom! All of this taking place is an exothermic reaction so the energy is released in the form of gamma rays. When nuclear fusion starts, the star enters its main sequence. Click on the graphic below to see a page that explains nuclear fusion a little more.