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Would a new star slowly begin to brighten or would it be like flipping on a light switch?

Answer 1

Due to the masses and processed involved, there would be a gradual change in the star output from the time of its initial "ignition".

A star's "ignition" by a first thermonuclear combination may occur instantly, but stabilizing the star would require a much longer process that involved changes to the system's entire mass, volume, and energy, resulting in observable state changes until a stable state was reached.

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Answer 2

Nova Adams

As a new star goes through nuclear fusion reactions in its core, it would gradually release energy and start to brighten.

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Answer from HIX Tutor

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.