Astronomers identify young star 30 times mass of sun which unveils star formation
Q. Astronomers have identified a young star located almost 11,000 light years away which can help in advancing understanding of how massive stars in the universe are formed. What is its size? - Published on 23 Aug 16a. 30 times the mass of the Sun
b. 40 times the mass of the Sun
c. 50 times the mass of the Sun
d. None of the above
ANSWER: 30 times the mass of the Sun
A group of scientists have identified a young star located 11,000 light years away which provides deeper understanding of how massive stars in the universe are formed.
- Young star already more than 30 times the mass of our Sun is in the process of gathering material from parent molecular cloud and may be more massive on reaching adulthood.
- Average stars like the Solar System Sun formed over a few million years whereas massive stars formed in orders of magnitude faster around 100,000 years.
- These massive stars also burn fuel more quickly resulting in shorter overall lifespan.
- This makes them harder to catch when they are infants. Protostars identified by the research team reside in infrared dark cloud- a cold, dense region of space which is the ideal stellar nursery.
- Using the Submilimetre Array in Hawaii and the Karl. G. Jansky Very Large Array in New Mexico, researchers were able to penetrate the cloud and see the stellar nursery.
- The astronomers have identified a key stage in the birth of the very massive star and found these stars form in a similar way akin to smaller stars like Sun from a rotating disc of gas and dust.
- Team was also able to determine the presence of a Keplerian disc which rates more quickly at the centre than the edge.
- This type of rotation is also seen in the solar system- inner planets rotate around the sun more quickly than outer planets
- Finding such a disc across a massive young star suggests they form in a manner similar to lower mass stars like the Sun.
