Dark clouds, young stars, and a dash of Hollywood: New results from space telescope's explorations of stellar birthplaces
Wednesday, October 31, 2012 - 13:32
in Astronomy & Space
An astronomical project has examined the earliest stages of star formation in unprecedented depth: Using techniques more commonly encountered in Hollywood blockbuster computer graphics than in astronomy, the researchers produced a three-dimensional map of the molecular cloud B68, a possible future birthplace for a low-mass star. Turning their attention to much more massive molecular clouds, the researchers also managed to identify a previously unobserved class of object that is likely the earliest known precursor of the birth of massive stars.