Don't move far from their birthplace. Spiral Arms are Density Waves in the Disk. Density Waves are a kind of orbital traffic jam Orbits crowd together in the arms, stars pile up and make the regions look brighter. Gas clouds pile up, collide, fragment, and form new stars. Density Waves Density waves pass through the disk like water waves pass over the ocean.
Stars move through the spiral arms.
1998 February 7 Copyright 1998 Richard W. Pogge, All Rights Reserved.