As technology advances, the universe reveals itself and shows us how much we don’t know about it. In a remarkable discovery, astronomers have found a disk surrounding a young star in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a galaxy neighboring our own.
Are there planets like ours in another galaxy?
This is the first time this species has been recorded. Similar to those that make up the planets in our Milky Way Galaxyexists outside our galaxy.
The new observations reveal a young, high-mass star that is growing and accreting matter from its surrounding environment, creating a rotating disk. The discovery was made with the help of ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array) in Chile, of which ESO is a partner.
When I first saw evidence of a rotating structure in the ALMA data, I couldn't believe we had discovered the first extragalactic accretion disk, it was truly a special moment.
We know that disks are essential for the formation of stars and planets in our galaxy, and for the first time, we now have direct evidence that the same phenomenon occurs in another galaxy.
Anna McLeod, an associate professor at Durham University in the United Kingdom, and lead author of the study published in the journal Nature, said.
This study follows observations using the MUSE (Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer) instrument on the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT), which detected a jet released by a forming star – the system has been named HH 1177 – within a cloud of gas in the Large Magellanic Cloud. .
We have detected a jet being launched by this massive young star, a sign of an accretion disk in the making.
McLeod explained.
However, to get compelling evidence that this disk actually existed, the team had to measure the movement of dense gas around the star.
It is said that when matter is attracted to a nascent star, it does not fall directly on it; Instead, it flattens into the disk orbiting the star. Near the center, the disk rotates faster, and this difference in speed is the evidence that indicates to astronomers the presence of an accretion disk.
With the combined capabilities of ISO FLT It's from spirit, a disk was observed around a young, massive star in another galaxy. On the left we have the notes made with the tool contemplation, coupled with the VLT, showing the parent cloud, LHA 120-N 180B, in which the system named HH 1177 was initially observed. The central image shows the accompanying aircraft. The upper part of the flow moves slightly towards us, and thus appears blue-shifted; The lower part of the flow is moving away from us and so we see it redshifted. On the right, observations made by ALMA reveal the disk orbiting the star, with parts moving closer and farther away from us. Source: ESO/ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/A. McLeod et al.
The radiation frequency varies depending on the speed at which the gas that emits this radiation moves towards us or in the opposite direction. This is the same phenomenon that occurs when the tone of an ambulance siren changes as it passes us and the sound frequency changes from higher to lower.
explains Jonathan Henshaw, a researcher at Liverpool John Moores University in the UK, and co-author of this study.
The detailed frequency measurements that ALMA was able to make allowed the authors to discern the disc's distinct rotation, confirming the first detection of a disc around a young extragalactic star.
Massive stars, like the one observed here, form much more quickly and have much shorter lives than low-mass stars, like our Sun. In our galaxy, these massive stars are notoriously difficult to observe and are often obscured by the disk-shaped dusty material from which they formed.
However, in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a galaxy 160,000 light-years from Earth, the material from which the new stars are formed is fundamentally different from that in the Milky Way.
Thanks to less dust there, HH 1177 is no longer curled up in its cocoon, providing astronomers with a clear, if distant, view of star and planet formation.
We are in an era of rapid technological advancement when it comes to astronomical facilities. Being able to study how stars form at these amazing distances and in a different galaxy is really exciting.
Macleod concludes.
“Friendly zombie fanatic. Analyst. Coffee buff. Professional music specialist. Communicator.”
