Related topics: star formation · young stars

The search for molecular oxygen among cosmic oxygen atoms

Oxygen is the third most abundant element in the universe (after hydrogen and helium) and of course it is important: all known life forms require liquid water and its oxygen content. For over thirty years, astronomers have ...

A universal law for star formation

(PhysOrg.com) -- Star formation is studied by astronomers not only because it produces new stars and planetary systems. It also generates copious amounts of ultraviolet light that heats dust which in turn causes the birth ...

Carina Nebula survey reveals details of star formation

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 ...

Orion's hidden fiery ribbon

(Phys.org) —This dramatic new image of cosmic clouds in the constellation of Orion reveals what seems to be a fiery ribbon in the sky. This orange glow represents faint light coming from grains of cold interstellar dust, ...

Protosuns teeming with prebiotic molecules

Complex organic molecules such as formamide, from which sugars, amino acids and even nucleic acids essential for life can be made, already appear in the regions where stars similar to our Sun are born. Astrophysicists from ...

Young stellar clusters

(PhysOrg.com) -- Most stars are thought to form in clusters rather than in isolation, as the gas and dust in a molecular cloud coalesces under the influence of gravity until clumps develop that are dense enough to become ...

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