protostar

Astronomers witness a “heat-wave” of thermal energy radiating outward from a high-mass protostar

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Our Galaxy is populated with billions of bright stars that have masses equivalent from ten to many tens the mass of the Sun. Despite their short and turbulent existence, these stars play a paramount role in astrophysics. For example they forge metals and more heavier chemical elements and eject them into space at the end … Read more

Feeding a baby star through a whirlpool in space

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An international research team, led by Chin-Fei Lee at Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics (ASIAA, Taiwan), has detected a pair of spiral arms in an accretion disk around a protostar (baby star), using the Atacama Large Millimeter/ submillimeter Array (ALMA). Interestingly, these spiral density enhancements make the disk appear like a “space whirlpool.” … Read more