{"id":57909,"date":"2024-05-02T07:43:08","date_gmt":"2024-05-02T07:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/8089c0c6-652f-4f6c-8e66-b7dea83dfe94"},"modified":"2024-05-02T08:08:22","modified_gmt":"2024-05-02T08:08:22","slug":"astronomers-are-mapping-the-movement-of-stars-in-the-lagoon-nebula-to-learn-more-about-how-they-form","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/astronomers-are-mapping-the-movement-of-stars-in-the-lagoon-nebula-to-learn-more-about-how-they-form\/","title":{"rendered":"Astronomers are mapping the movement of stars in the Lagoon Nebula to learn more about how they form"},"content":{"rendered":"

The motion of stars in the stellar nursery may reveal how they\u2019re born. <\/p>

By <\/p>

Published: Thursday, 02 May 2024 at 07:43 AM<\/p>

\n\n

The giant star-forming region known as the Lagoon Nebula, situated perhaps 5,000 lightyears from Earth, is a fascinating place for learning more about stars and how they form<\/p>

The bright Lagoon Nebula<\/a> harbours stars that are only now forming, alongside some brilliant examples of young, massive stars whose influence shapes the nebula itself.<\/p>

Trying to disentangle what is clearly a complex history has kept astronomers busy for centuries.<\/p>

An artist\u2019s impression of the Gaia satellite in action. The aim of the mission is to provide a view of the formation and evolution of our Galaxy.Credit: ESA\u2013D. Ducros, 2013<\/figcaption><\/figure>
A team of astronomers used data from ESA\u2019s celestial cartographer, Gaia<\/a>, to take a close look at the stars embedded in the nebula\u2019s gas.<\/p>
The nice thing about the maps produced by Gaia is that they show how stars<\/a> move, as well as where they are.<\/p>
But as we should expect from the Lagoon, this only adds to the complexity.<\/p>
For starters, it turns out there are two separate clusters rather than just one, each expanding slowly.<\/p>
The first covers the whole of the nebula, while the second is concentrated in its western lobe; its presence probably reflects a second, distinct phase of star formation in the nebula\u2019s complex past.\u00a0<\/p>
Leaving the geography aside, the researchers are focused on thinking about how the stars move, measurements which can give us a clue into how clusters of stars<\/a> like this form.<\/p>
$\"A$
A portion of open cluster NGC 6530, located in the Lagoon Nebula. Credit: ESA\/Hubble & NASA, ESO, and O. De Marco; Acknowledgement: M. H. \u00d6zsara\u00e7<\/figcaption><\/figure>
The problem with star formation<\/strong><\/h2>
We know that stars begin to form when a cloud of gas collapses under its own gravity, but we don\u2019t know how fast this happens.<\/p>
The speed of the collapse has implications for understanding what stars can form.<\/p>
However, as we can\u2019t sit and watch for the few million years it might take, it\u2019s hard to measure.<\/p>
This is where the velocity of the stars comes in.<\/p>
$\"An$
An image of the Lagoon Nebula captured by the VLT Survey Telescope at ESO\u2019s Paranal Observatory, Chile. Credit: ESO\/VPHAS team<\/figcaption><\/figure>
If the cloud collapses quickly, any forming protostars fall into its gravitational well, heading for the centre of the new cluster.<\/p>
This process alters their speed; some will speed up and some slow down, in a process confusingly known as \u2018violent relaxation\u2019.<\/p>
The process doesn\u2019t care about the mass of the stars, so we shouldn\u2019t see any distinction between the velocities of stars of different masses.\u00a0<\/p>
If the collapse is slow, other factors become important.<\/p>
Then, stars might be able to encounter each other as they fall towards the centre and such near-collisions will tend to send the less massive partner out towards the outskirts of the cluster.<\/p>
$\"\"$
Hubble Space Telescope image of the Lagoon Nebula. This image shows only a small part of this turbulent star-formation region, about four light-years across. Credit: ESA\/NASA\/Hubble<\/figcaption><\/figure>
We\u2019ll then see low-mass stars spread all over and massive stars clustered in the centre, moving at a greater range of speeds.<\/p>
Gaia seems to show that this isn\u2019t the case in the Lagoon.<\/p>
We have stars of all masses sharing velocities, just as one would expect from violent relaxation and nothing else.<\/p>
That in turn means rapid collapse and that the Lagoon, at least, is a place where stars are made efficiently.<\/p>
With similar measurements of stars in the Orion Nebula recently released, maybe we\u2019re seeing evidence that that\u2019s true throughout the Milky Way.<\/p>
***Chris Lintott was reading Unveiling Two Expanding Stellar Groups formed through Violent Relaxation in the Lagoon Nebula Cluster by A Bonilla-Barroso et al. Read it online at:*** ***arxiv.org\/abs\/2403.00247<\/a><\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>***
***This article appeared in the May 2024 issue of BBC Sky at Night Magazine<\/em><\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n***
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