The Hubble space telescope has captured an amazing image of the birth of a star.
A large complex of clouds is turning into stars in the southern constellation of Chamaeleon. The Chamaeleon complex is full of young, newly formed T Tauri stars.
You can see stars that are in the process of forming if you look closely with the right instruments. The reflection nebula IC 2631 is the subject of Hubble's new photo, and it is lit by a star named HD 97300.
Stars form in clouds of gas. clumps of gas can coalesce due to denser processes such as local stellar winds. The clumps can collapse under their own weight if the density is high.
T. Megeath/U Toledo, K. Stapelfeldt/JPL, Gladys Kober/NASA/CUA are all associated with NASA.
There is a close-up of the star.
The material in the cloud around the object forms a disk. The disk of material is drawn in by the strength of the star's gravity, which grows as it gains mass.
The material falling into the protostar starts to interact with its magnetic fields and is blasted into space in the form of powerful plasma jets.
The wind and jets help to blow away material around the star, slowing and eventually cutting off its growth.
The gas and dust left in the disk will form planets, asteroids, and comets. The planets and asteroid belt are arranged on a flat plane.
T. Megeath/U Toledo, K. Stapelfeldt/JPL, Gladys Kober/NASA/CUA are all associated with NASA.
Next to reflection nebula IC 2631.
At that point, Protostar J1672835.29-763111.64 is not quite there. The region around it is still very dusty, which means it hasn't yet blown away the material around it.
Hubble's instrument can see it because it can penetrate the cloud and see the glowing star.
A survey was conducted to target 312 objects that were obscured by dense clouds. Star formation is a process that takes millions of years to complete, which means we won't be able to see it from start to finish.
We can learn more about it by identifying as many of them as we can, and getting as much information as we can. Astronomers use these stars to study the process of star formation, and to work out a star formation timeline.
It is more than a snapshot of an amazing phenomenon. It will join other stars in Hubble's survey to help build a more detailed model of how star formation unfolds.
