A protostar represents an early evolutionary stage in the life cycle of a star, characterized by the gravitational collapse of a dense core within a vast molecular cloud. During formation, the accumulating mass causes the core to heat up, but stable energy generation through hydrogen fusion has not yet commenced in the stellar interior. The protostar continues to accrete material from the surrounding dusty envelope and gas, and the primary source of its observed luminosity is the gravitational energy released by this collapse and the subsequent heating of the matter. As the object continues to evolve, it sheds its surrounding cocoon of gas and dust, gradually clearing the way until it reaches the main sequence stage, where core fusion initiates stable stellar burning.