An image of unprecedented accuracy to the present day of the Tarantula Nebula was announced by an international group of astrophysicists at the American Astronomical Society’s annual meeting taking place this week in Pasadena, California.
In high -resolution images produced mostly using data collected by the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) ALMA antenna array in Chile, it is possible to see nebula in new light, with gas clouds providing insight into how large stars shape this regionnote the scientists in a press release.
According to Professor Tony Wong of the University of Illinois, these clouds correspond to the remnants of larger clouds that would have been torn apart by the energy released by young large stars in a process called double feedback.
Until now, it was commonly believed that gas in these regions was too scattered and overwhelmed by this turbulent feedback for gravity to pull it together and form new stars.
However, new data show denser filaments where the role of gravity is still important.
” Our results indicate that even in the presence of a very strong feedback, gravity can exert a strong influence and lead to star formation. “
An integrated image
The photo is an overlay of several photos. The background image, taken in infrared, is itself an aggregate image born from the combination of two shots obtained from the instruments of two other telescopes.ESO. It shows bright stars and light pink clouds of hot gas.
This image overlaps with the image from radio observations made by ALMA, showing bright red-yellow bands that correspond to regions of cold, dense gas with characteristic collapse and formation of stars. .
A star -producing region
Additionally, the Tarantula is home to some of the largest stars on record, some of which have a mass more than 150 times that of the Sun. This area of the sky, which is relatively close to astronomy, is ideal for studying how gas clouds collapse under the effect of gravity to create stars. Especially since it shares many characteristics with very distant galaxies that formed when the Universe was young.
” We can study how stars formed 10 billion years ago, when most stars were born. “
Surprising seriousness
Until recently, Tarantula sightings were mostly focused on its center, as star formation was abundant there.
To get a better picture of the entire nebula, the scientists conducted high-resolution observations using ALMA covering a large region of the nebula, which mapped large clouds of cold gas. to give birth to new stars, but also how they change when big. amount of energy released by star birth.
We expect that the parts of the cloud closest to the young large stars will show the clearest signs of gravity crushed in the feedback.explained Tony Wong.
” Instead, we found that gravity was still important in those regions exposed to feedback – at least for cloud components that were dense enough. “
Our work contains detailed clues as to how gravity behaves in the star -forming regions of the Tarantula Nebulanote the authors, whose detailed work is published on The Astrophysical Journal (New window) (in English).
There is still much to be done with this fascinating data set, and we are making it public to encourage other researchers to conduct further investigations.said Tony Wong.
Radio Canada
Source: Radio-Canada
