L1448-IRS2E: A Star Is Born

Astronomers have glimpsed what could be the youngest known star at the very moment it is being born -so young it can hardly be considered a true star because it is in the earliest stages of star formation and has just begun pulling in matter from a surrounding envelope of gas and dust. The Astrophysical Journal study authors found the object using the Submillimeter Array in Hawaii and the Spitzer Space Telescope. The new star, known as L1448-IRS2E, is located in the Perseus star-forming region about 800 light years away yet within our Milky Way galaxy.  read more

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