A new astronomical study reveals that stars can form from molecular clouds through blast waves on a supernova remnant. The findings were made possible through a model of a foam ball that was relayed with a high-power laser.
Origin of Stars and Supernova Remnants
IN SPACE - DECEMBER 1: In this handout from NASA, the mosaic image, one of the largest ever taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope of the Crab Nebula, shows six-light-year-wide expanding remnant of a star's supernova explosion as released December 2, 2005. Japanese and Chinese astronomers witnessed this violent event nearly 1,000 years ago in 1054, together with, possibly, Native Americans. The orange filaments are the remains of the star and consist mostly of hydrogen. The rapidly spinning neutron star embedded in the center of the nebula is the dynamo powering the nebula's eerie interior bluish glow. The blue light comes from electrons whirling at nearly the speed of light around magnetic field lines from the neutron star. The neutron star, the crushed ultra-dense core of the exploded star, ejects twin beams of radiation that appear to pulse 30 times a second due to the neutron star's rotation.
Gas and dust particles scattered in space commonly form molecular clouds. The lack of external factors such as force could leave these materials in a peaceful equilibrium.
However, gas and dust particles can form other cosmic materials from excessive forces originating from shockwaves and supernova remnants. These factors trigger gas and dust to create pockets of dense materials.
The dense materials usually which a certain level of intensity that allows them to collapse this process begins to form new stellar bodies, EurekAlert reports.
Previous studies that heavily rely on observations are only limited to certain spatial resolutions and the lack of data. Moreover many numerical simulations are not yet capable of solving complexities surrounding the clouds and supernova remnants, as well as their interaction with each other.
Because of these problems, investigations around the formation of new spare materials remain unsolved.
To learn more about star formations and how the process took place out of dust and supernova blasts, experts from prestigious institutes collaborated and developed a model using a high-power laser and a foam ball.
The team included experts from the Free University of Berlin, the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute, the University of Oxford, the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission, the Polytechnic Institute of Paris, the Russian Academy of Sciences Joint Institute for High Temperatures, and Osaka University.
Star Formation Observed for the First Time Through Simulation
In the model, the foam ball mirrors the dense area that is enveloped in a molecular cloud. on the other hand, the high-power laser serves as the blast wave that ignites with the surrounding chamber of gas directing force into the ball. The interior of the ball was examined through a series of x-ray imaging.
Polytechnic Institute of Paris expert and lead author of the study Bruno Albertazzi explained that through the model they were able to witness the first few phases of star formation and the interactions happening inside of the stellar body.
Through the model, the increase in the density of the foam easily reveals how the full structure of a star materializes, Albertazzi continued.
Stellar bodies can form from numerous triggers available in space. these factors can influence the production rate of stars and control the evolution of a particular galaxy. In addition, they could provide clues on research about the life cycles of massive stars and the consequences they could relay in a planetary system.
Albertazzi's team concluded that our sun most likely formed from a similar sequence, specifically from primitive molecular clouds that were triggered by supernova remnants.
Further studies are expected to identify the influence of shock wave and compressed materials the influence of shockwave and compressed materials in the foam's stretched mass to a star formation.
The study was published in the journal Matter and Radiation at Extremes, titled "Triggering star formation: Experimental compression of a foam ball induced by Taylor-Sedov blast waves."
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