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Animation of a protostar surrounded by a protoplanetary disc, revealed after the point of view passes through the surrounding opaque dust A protostar is an early stage in the life of a star, like the Sun. Stars form from the gravitational collapse of clouds of gas and dust. At this early stage the core of the developing star is not yet fusing hydrogen to produce energy. Matter falls from the disc to the growing star until it is massive enough to collapse under its own gravity, and get hot and dense enough for fusion to begin. Planets and moons may form from material left in the disc. This is thought to be the process by which the Solar System was born