0
0
In a poetic twist of astronomical inquiry, researchers from Kyushu University have unveiled new insights into the development of baby stars, revealing how these celestial infants emit “sneezes” that may play a crucial role in their formation. Utilizing the ALMA radio telescope in Chile, the team observed protostellar disks surrounding nascent stars, releasing plumes of dust, gas, and electromagnetic energy akin to sneezes. These findings, published in The Astrophysical Journal, shed light on a fundamental aspect of star formation.
Stars, including our own Sun, originate from vast regions of gas and dust known as stellar nurseries, where these materials coalesce to form a stellar core, marking the birth of a star. Throughout this process, a protostellar disk forms around the developing star, perpetually intertwined with magnetic fields carrying magnetic flux. However, retaining all this magnetic flux would result in magnetic fields far stronger than those observed in protostars.
“To understand how stars form, we need to unravel the mystery of how they shed excess magnetic flux,” explains Kazuki Tokuda, first author of the study from Kyushu University. Previous theories proposed gradual weakening of the magnetic field over time, but the team’s observations revealed a different mechanism at play.
Focusing their attention on MC 27, a stellar nursery located 450 light-years from Earth, the researchers employed the ALMA array to collect data. Surprisingly, they discovered “spike-like” structures extending from the protostellar disk, expelling magnetic flux, dust, and gas—a phenomenon they likened to sneezes.
“This ‘interchange instability’ occurs when instabilities in the magnetic field interact with varying densities of gases in the disk, causing an outward expulsion of magnetic flux,” Tokuda elaborates. “These sneezes serve as a mechanism for the baby star to shed excess magnetic flux.”
Moreover, distant spikes observed several thousand astronomical units away from the disk suggested past sneezing events. This discovery not only enhances our understanding of star formation but also offers insights into the intricate processes shaping the universe.
“By investigating the conditions triggering these sneezes, we aim to deepen our understanding of how stars and planets are born,” Tokuda concludes. As similar structures have been observed in other young stars, this research opens avenues for further exploration, captivating both the astronomical community and the public alike in the ongoing saga of cosmic evolution.
