A huge (and important) flow of gas was invisible to humans – it was no longer

Astronomers first revealed the enormous flow of gas near a massive, formation, which allows its rapid growth.

Using VLA (Very Large Array), astronomers first revealed the huge flow of gas near a massive, formation, which allows its rapid growth.

When observing the young star HW2 in Cefeu alocated 2300 light years from Earth, the researchers resolved the structure and dynamics of a disk that feeds this massive star with material.

This discovery sheds light on a central question of astrophysics: How is the massive starswhich often end their lives as supernovaes, Do you accumulate your immense mass?

Cefeu A is the second place of formation of massive stars closer to Earth, which makes it an ideal laboratory to study these complex processes.

The investigation team used ammonia (NH3), A molecule that is usually in the interstellar gas clouds that is widely used industrially on Earth as a marker to map the dynamics of gas around the star.

The observations revealed a dense ring of hot gaseous ammonia which extends for 200 to 700 astronomical units (UA) around HW2. This structure was identified as part of a accreation disc – A key feature in star formation theories.

Discovered that gas within this disc is both collapse inside how to revolve around the young star.

Remarkable, the pace of material fall for HW2 was measured in Two thousandths of one solar mass per year – One of the rates more raised ever observed for a massive star in formation.

These findings confirm that accretion discs can sustain such extreme rhythms of mass transfer, even when the central star has grown up to 16 times the mass of our sun.

“Our observations provide direct evidence that Massive stars can form through disk accretion up to dozens of solar pasta“Dr. Alberto Sanna, the main author of the study said.” NSF’s VLA-parallel radio sensitivity allowed us to resolve characteristics at only 100 AU scales, providing an unprecedented view of this process. “

The team also compared their observations with the most advanced massive star formation simulations. “The results are very close to theoretical predictions, showing that ammonia near HW2 is collapsing almost free-falling as it turns to sub-kiplery speeds-a balance dictated by gravity and centrifugal forces,” said Professor André Oliva, who performed the detailed simulations.

Interestingly, the study revealed asymmetries in the structure and turbulence of the disc, suggesting that external gas currents – known as “Serpentins” – may be sending fresh material to one side of the disc.

Such currents have been observed in other regions of star formation and may play a crucial role in replacement of accretion discs around massive stars.

This discovery RESOLVES DEBATE About HW2, and protestals equally, can form accretion discs capable of sustaining their rapid growth. It also reinforces the idea that similar physical mechanisms govern stars formation in a wide range of masses.

“HW2 has been known for over 40 years and continues to inspire new generations of astronomers,” Professor José María Torrelles, who made some fundamental observations of HW2 in the late 1990s.

The findings were possible thanks to the high sensitivity observations of VLA carried out in centimetric wavelengths in 2019. Researchers aimed at specific ammonia transitions that are excited at temperatures higher than 100 Kwhich allowed them to detect dense and hot gas near HW2.

“These results highlight the power of radio interferometry to probe hidden processes behind the formation of the most influential objects in our galaxy,” said Dr. Todd Hunter of Nrao, “and within ten years, the updated VLA will make it possible to study the circusestellar ammonia to our solar system.”

Not only does this work advance our understanding of how massive stars form, but also have implications for broader questions about the evolution of galaxies and chemical enrichment in the universe. Massive stars play a key role as cosmic engines, boosting winds and explosions that feed the galaxies with heavy elements.