For the first time, scientists have observed the powerful whirlwinds spewing out of a newly formed star located about 450 light years away, as was reported by The Verge. The stellar outbursts occurred in the early stages of a new solar system's formation, when infant stars emit jets of gas.
Stars are formed from large clouds of gas and dust in galaxies contracting and condensing due to gravity; the mass of gas and dust collapses and its center heats up. This hot core becomes the new star. The remaining material rotates in a disc around the star and can give birth to new planets. This is how solar systems are formed
This particular one, described in a study published this week in the journal, was observed by researchers from the University of Copenhagen's Niels Bohr Institute with the ALMA telescopes in Chile. The researchers were able to observe the protostar in its very early stage, when a powerful wind of space material was ejected from the star.
The observations revealed that the star's whirlwind didn't originate from the center of the rotating disc of gas and dust, as researchers expected. Instead, it formed across the entire disc
Next, the researchers want to figure out if the star's ejected gas eventually falls back into the rotating disc and contributes to the formation of new planets.
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