Dense and turbulent environments contribute to star formation

Astronomers have studied the birth of stars as part of binary and multicomponent systems. They came to the conclusion that the density of the molecular cloud and the disturbance in it positively affect the number of future luminaries.

A molecular cloud. Source: Wikipedia

How stars are born in multiple systems

Scientists from the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences studied the birth of stars as part of binary and multicomponent systems. For this, they examined molecular clouds known as stellar mangers. It is known that a significant part of the luminaries are not born alone. But no one has figured out in detail about this process.

The study was carried out using the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) located in Hawaii and the ALMA array of radio telescopes in South America. The object of research was the Orion Clouds located 1500 light-years away from us.

With the help of JCMT, the researchers found 49 cold dense cores in their composition, inside which stars are forming. Further, with the help of ALMA, they found that only 13 of them have the formation of binary or multicomponent systems. From others, only single luminaries will be obtained.

Density and turbulent environment

Scientists have found that the core in which multicomponent systems are formed are denser than those that will give rise to single stars. In particular, they attribute this to the fact that with an increase in the density of the disturbance, it is easier to divide such thickenings into parts. 

The core of star formation in the Clouds of Orion. Source: SHAO

In addition, they observed the width of absorption lines in the spectra of nuclei and came to the conclusion that their “multicomponent” variant is a highly turbulent environment. From this, it was concluded that significant turbulence is usually present in dense gas cores. They effectively “shred” the embryo into parts, leading to an increase in the number of stars that have emerged from it.

Scientists note how successful the joint use of JCMT and ALMA turned out to be and believe that in the future, with the help of this pair of telescopes, it will be possible to explore more star formation zones. After all, the role of magnetic fields in these processes is still unclear.

According to phys.org

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