How do supernova shock waves trigger the formation of new stars?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Supernova Composite image of Kepler's Nova, or Kepler's Supernova, taken by the Chandra X-ray Observatory.

When a massive star undergoes a supernova explosion while still located within the molecular cloud where it originally formed, the resulting supernova remnant can trigger the birth of new stars.

This process occurs because the explosion generates violent, expanding shock waves that propagate through the surrounding interstellar medium. These shock waves compress the nearby interstellar gas, increasing its density. By forcing this material into denser regions, the shock waves can induce gravitational instability, causing the gas to collapse and initiate the formation of subsequent generations of stars.1