Stellar fireworks celebrate birth of giant cluster

Date:
July 2, 2020
Source:
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
Summary:
Astronomers created a stunning new image showing celestial fireworks
in star cluster G286.21+0.17.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Astronomers created a stunning new image showing celestial fireworks in
star cluster G286.21+0.17.


==========================================================================
Most stars in the universe, including our Sun, were born in massive star clusters. These clusters are the building blocks of galaxies, but their formation from dense molecular clouds is still largely a mystery.

The image of cluster G286.21+0.17, caught in the act of formation,
is a multi- wavelength mosaic made out of more than 750 individual
radio observations with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter
Array (ALMA) and 9 infrared images from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space
Telescope. The cluster is located in the Carina region of our galaxy,
about 8000 light-years away.

Dense clouds made of molecular gas (purple 'fireworks streamers') are
revealed by ALMA. The telescope observed the motions of turbulent gas
falling into the cluster, forming dense cores that ultimately create
individual stars.

The stars in the image are revealed by their infrared light, as seen
by Hubble, including a large group of stars bursting out from one side
of the cloud. The powerful winds and radiation from the most massive of
these stars are blasting away the molecular clouds, leaving faint wisps
of glowing, hot dust (shown in yellow and red).

"This image shows stars in various stages of formation within this single cluster," said Yu Cheng of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, and lead author of two papers published in The Astrophysical
Journal.

Hubble revealed about a thousand newly-formed stars with a wide range of masses. Additionally, ALMA showed that there is a lot more mass present
in dense gas that still has to undergo collapse. "Overall the process
may take at least a million years to complete," Cheng added.

"This illustrates how dynamic and chaotic the process of star birth is,"
said co-author Jonathan Tan of Chalmers University in Sweden and the
University of Virginia and principal investigator of the project. "We
see competing forces in action: gravity and turbulence from the cloud on
one side, and stellar winds and radiation pressure from the young stars
on the other. This process sculpts the region. It is amazing to think
that our own Sun and planets were once part of such a cosmic dance."
"The phenomenal resolution and sensitivity of ALMA are evident in this
stunning image of star formation," said Joe Pesce, NSF Program Officer
for NRAO/ALMA.

"Combined with the Hubble Space Telescope data we can clearly see
the power of multiwavelength observations to help us understand these fundamental universal processes."

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
National_Radio_Astronomy_Observatory. Note: Content may be edited for
style and length.


========================================================================== Related Multimedia:
* Image_and_animation_of_star_cluster_G286.21+0.17 ========================================================================== Journal References:
1. Yu Cheng, Jonathan C. Tan, Mengyao Liu, Wanggi Lim, Morten
Andersen. Gas
Kinematics of the Massive Protocluster G286.21 0.17 Revealed
by ALMA. The Astrophysical Journal, 2020; 894 (2): 87 DOI:
10.3847/1538-4357/ab879f
2. Yu Cheng, Morten Andersen, Jonathan Tan. Stellar Variability in
a Forming
Massive Star Cluster. The Astrophysical Journal, 2020; 897 (1):
51 DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ab93bc ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200702115024.htm

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