infant star

plural infant stars

1. Synonym of protostar.

   protostar: infant star in a gas cloud before it is hot enough for nuclear reactions to start

   2012, John Farndon, What Do We Know about Stars and Galaxies?, page 42

   2 more examples

   Eventually, the energy released by the collapsing material raises the temperature in the core of an infant star enough to ignite self-sustaining nuclear reactions.

   1983, National Science Foundation Annual Report 1983, page 3

   As nuclear fusion ignites at the centre of an infant star, the outer regions of the gas cloud that formed it are still falling inwards.

   2022, Charles Liu, The Cosmos Explained

   Synonyms: protostar

2. astronomyA newly formed star; a star that has just begun to sustain a fusion reaction.

   Emitted radiation and a stellar wind flow from the infant star.

   2006, Gregory L. Matloff, Deep Space Probes: To the Outer Solar System and Beyond, page 15

   2 more examples

   Perhaps thy sight is wandering far Throughout the kindled sky, In tracing every infant star Amid the lights on high,

   1849, M. A. H., “The Dying Child”, in Echoes of Infant Voices, page 86

   In one discovery, Spitzer's infrared eyes have peered into the place where planets are born—the center of a dusty disc surrounding an infant star—and sped the icy ingredients of planets and comets.

   2008, Paul Hutchins, The Secret Doorway: Beyond Imagination, page 61