What Is a Stellar Nebula?

The cosmic objects known as nebulae, from the Latin for cloud, serve as the birthplace of stars. Stellar formation begins in a nebula when particles within the cloud begin to bond with each other due to their gravitational pull, the increased mass of these particles in turn gaining more gravitational pull. As they attract more of the surrounding dust and gas, the pressures at the core of the construct reach such an extreme that nuclear fusion results, sparking the earliest stages of star development.