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brabelyesterday at 6:54 PM2 repliesview on HN

Why doesn’t the stuff just falls in towards the center? It just floats there??


Replies

zygentomayesterday at 7:02 PM

Radiation pressure! There is so much heat (= photons) radiating outwards, that it counteracts the gravitational pull.

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kulahanyesterday at 9:58 PM

To add on to the other response, think of it like the star “leaking” into space. It’ll be defined as a pretty radically different size at some point in the future, even as it’s still undergoing fusion.