PV Gap

Mildred Said:

How many solar cycles to make our solar system?

We Answered:

It is estimated that the Sun is a third generation star.

However, it is difficult to talk of cycles, because the most massive stars, those that end in a supernova, also live the shortest time.

In a large molecular cloud there are already generations: the most massive stars form quickest, live their lives, explode, and seed the cloud with more heavy elements. And all this while the smaller stars forming are still in their proto-star stage.

> 2) Within the Milky Way or by intersecting with other galaxies?

Mostly within the Milky Way. The spiral arms of our galaxy are still very rich in gas and dust. This proves that the Milky why never had a collision with another large galaxy, as this would shock a large amount of the gas and dust into starforming.