“Discovering Hidden Spiral Patterns Around High-Mass Baby Stars”

New observations reveal hidden spiral patterns around newly formed high-mass baby stars!

Interestingly, astronomers found spiral patterns in a way similar to a game of connecting the dots with the lines on a magazine.

Has anyone played this game?

Usually when we connect the dots, it looks messy at first. But once you can connect the dots, a pattern emerges from the chaos.

And that’s what happens when astronomers observe baby stars. There are spiral patterns hidden in the disk of matter around the baby stars. This spiral pattern was discovered after astronomers connected a strange space torch called maser!

Star Baby Nutrition

When a young star forms, there is a disk of gas and dust around it. It is the matter in these disks that becomes a continuous stream of nutrients for the growth of a baby star or protobintang which is at the center. For a protostar 8 times as massive as the Sun and still growing, the flow of nutrients is not continuous except for occasional lumps of nutrients that fall onto the baby star. The result is an explosion of energy that heats the disk as it moves outwards and ultimately produces a maser beam. Astronomers call the brief bursts that release this energy periodic bursts of infancy.

Using the VLBI technique, aka interferometric technique, which combines the capabilities of several radio telescopes around the world, an international team of astronomers at NAOJ studied the large-mass protostar G358-MM1 in detail. They also mapped the surface of the G358-MM1 disk by connecting the maser-emitting areas. This new technique is called heat-wave mapping.

But.. the surprises aren’t over yet!

Octopus on a Dish

It turns out that the disk that surrounds this baby star is not like that of other stars. The disk on this baby star rotates in a spiral-like shape, similar to that of an octopus. But instead of eight arms like an octopus, this disc has four arms. According to astronomers, this spiral pattern is a sign of disturbance or instability in the disk due to gravity. Usually this occurs when massive star formation is taking place.

This discovery also shows the relationship between spiral arm imbalance and periodic bursts or explosions of the growth period, as a key factor in the formation of high mass stars. To gain a better understanding, astronomers began looking for other baby stars with masers around them. Maybe they can find another spiral or even something unexpected.

Cool Facts:

Do you know? Masers were first observed in the sky in 1965. They are a group of molecules that can absorb and amplify radiation, much like a loudspeaker amplifies sound!

Source: This article is a republished version developed from Indonesian edition of Space Scoop Universe Awareness. The Indonesian edition of Space Scoop is translated by Langitselatan.

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