During the formation of stars, the protostellar disk expels magnetic flux, gas, and dust, akin to a stellar "sneeze." Source: American Association for the Advancement of Science website.
Researchers from Kyushu University in Japan have proposed new insights into the crucial question of "how young stars develop." The research team discovered, through observations using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) radio telescope in Chile, that protostellar disks surrounding young stars eject substantial amounts of dust, gas, and electromagnetic energy during their nascent stage, resembling a "sneeze." Scientists suggest that these "sneezes" release magnetic flux from within the protostellar disk and may be a vital component of star formation. The findings were published in the latest issue of the Astrophysical Journal.
Stars are formed within what's known as stellar "nurseries." These nurseries are aggregations of gas and dust, which eventually coalesce into a stellar core, or a young star. During this process, gas and dust form a ring around the young star, known as a protostellar disk. These structures are continuously penetrated by magnetic fields, leading to the presence of magnetic flux. Researchers hypothesize that there is a mechanism during stellar development that can eliminate magnetic flux. The prevailing view is that over time, magnetic fields gradually weaken as magnetic clouds are pulled into the stellar core.
To unravel the truth behind this mysterious phenomenon, the research team used the ALMA array to observe the stellar nursery MC 27, located approximately 450 light-years away from Earth.
Upon analyzing the data, researchers discovered that some "spike-like" structures extended several astronomical units from the protostellar disk. Further investigation revealed that these spikes consisted of expelled magnetic flux, dust, and gas.
The first author of the study, Kazuki Tokuda from the Faculty of Science at Kyushu University, described this as a "thermal instability" phenomenon. The instability of the magnetic field interacts with gases of different densities within the protostellar disk, causing the expulsion of magnetic flux outward, termed as the "sneeze" of young stars.
Additionally, other spikes were observed thousands of astronomical units away from the protostellar disk, suggesting they were remnants of past "sneezes." These findings will enhance our understanding of the intricate processes shaping the universe.
