Formation of a star. Computer artwork showing how a star is formed from the condensation of swirling dust and gas. Stars form when this dust begins to clump together under the influence of its own gravity. The in-falling material forms a disk as it spirals inward, which feeds material onto the forming star at its centre, while planets form out of the remnants of the disk of material that surrounds the infant star. Jets of material that shoot from the inner disk and protostar herald its birth.