The gas and dust in giant molecular clouds gradually come together under the influence of gravity to form stars. Precisely how this occurs, however, is incompletely understood. The mass of a star, for example, is by far the ...
Astronomy
Dec 11, 2017
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In the context of space, the term 'cloud' can mean something rather different from the fluffy white collections of water in the sky or a way to store data or process information. Giant molecular clouds are vast cosmic objects, ...
Astronomy
Jul 13, 2017
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This spectacular new image is one of the largest near-infrared high-resolution mosaics of the Orion A molecular cloud, the nearest known massive star factory, lying about 1350 light-years from Earth. It was taken using the ...
Astronomy
Jan 4, 2017
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The center of our Milky Way galaxy lies about 27,000 light-years away in the direction of the constellation of Sagittarius. At its core is a black hole about four million solar masses in size. Around the black hole is a donut-shaped ...
Astronomy
Feb 29, 2016
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Star formation, once thought to consist essentially of just the simple coalescence of material by gravity, actually occurs in a complex series of stages. As the gas and dust in giant molecular clouds come together into stars, ...
Astronomy
May 8, 2015
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A new Rice University-led survey of one of the most active star-forming regions in the galactic neighborhood is helping astronomers better understand the processes that may have contributed to the formation of the sun 4.5 ...
Astronomy
Mar 9, 2015
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Brazilian astronomers said Friday they had found two star clusters forming in a remote part of our Milky Way galaxy where such a thing was previously thought impossible.
Astronomy
Feb 27, 2015
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(Phys.org) —A multi-year study of the Whirlpool galaxy (M51) has changed our understanding of giant molecular clouds, in which stars are born. The new study, which mapped 1,500 such clouds, shows that, instead, they are ...
Astronomy
Dec 12, 2013
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A giant telescope, 50 meters (164 feet) across, will this year start unraveling mysteries of the birth and death of galaxies up to 14,000 light years away, from atop a Mexican volcano.
Astronomy
Sep 9, 2010
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Our Milky Way bristles with giant molecular clouds birthing stars. Based on what we see here, astronomers assume that the process of star creation also goes on similarly in other galaxies. It makes sense since their stars ...
Astronomy
Dec 29, 2023
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