Stars are born in large clouds of gas and dust called molecular clouds or nebulae. These clouds are cold and dense, allowing gas and dust to clump together under gravity. When regions within these clouds become sufficiently dense and cold, they collapse under their own gravity, leading to the formation of protostars, which are baby stars

. These stellar nurseries, such as the Orion Nebula and the Eagle Nebula, are vast-often spanning hundreds of light-years-and contain knots or clumps of denser material where star formation is actively occurring

. As the collapsing material heats up due to friction, nuclear fusion ignites once temperatures reach about 10 million degrees Celsius, marking the birth of a new star

. Infrared telescopes like the James Webb Space Telescope can peer through the dust in these clouds to observe the star formation process more clearly, revealing newborn stars hidden within

. Most stars form not in isolation but as part of groups called star clusters within these molecular clouds

. In summary, stars are born in cold, dense regions of molecular clouds or nebulae within galaxies, where gravity causes the gas and dust to collapse and ignite nuclear fusion