Star formation

Fresh research has cast doubt on the theory that energetic outbursts from young stars blows away the cocoon of gas from which they formed, which in turn prevents them from growing any further.

According to the results of a new study, stars orbiting near the centers of massive clusters have a much harder time forming planets than their smaller siblings located nearer the edge, and they may have themselves to blame.

An incredibly detailed survey of the Milky Way’s core has shed light on our galaxy’s legacy of star birth. According to the authors of a study, their results disagree with the previously held belief that stars formed in at a continual pace.

ESO has released the most detailed view to date of the ominous Lupus 3 dark nebula, one of the closest star formation regions to our Sun. Lupus 3 is located roughly 600 light-years from Earth, and is known to host a population of young stellar bodies and protostars.

With intense gravity and radiation, the region around the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy was thought to be too harsh for star formation. But now almost a dozen young rebellious stars have been spotted there anyway, triggering a rethink of our understanding of how stars are born.

​​A team of astronomers has used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to observe a gigantic tsunami of stars and interstellar material that has created striking eyelid-shaped formations in a distant spiral galaxy.

​The Hubble telescope has captured an image of a chaotic region of star formation located in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The LMC is a satellite galaxy roughly one tenth the diameter of the Milky Way, with around one hundredth the mass.

​An international team of astronomers has succeeded in capturing the most comprehensive infrared view of the famous Orion Nebula to date, highlighting a surprising amount of failed stars and small planetary bodies.

​According to new research, young stars may gain mass by consuming dense clumps of matter that might themselves have gone on to evolve into giant planets.

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has succeeded in imaging star formation regions in a distant galaxy, with a resolution six times greater than that achievable by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Astronomers from the European Southern Observatory have used data from the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument to compile the first 3D image of the Pillars of Creation, uncovering some key characteristics of the structures in the process

Astronomers have used the VLT and Hubble telescopes to reveal how star formation shut down in distant galaxies just three billion years after the Big Bang. Focusing on huge galaxies known as spheroids, the findings are expected to improve our understanding of the evolution of the Universe.