An international team of scientists has studied the clusters in which stars are born with both the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb and has discovered very useful data to understand how galaxies form. Both telescopes are very good separately, but the combination of both has been the key to reaching this information.
Two giants of space. The Hubble Space Telescope takes many years studying the clusters in which stars are born. It is very good at reaching far and capturing high resolution images. However, the gas clouds resist it. For this reason, James Webb has used its infrared radiation detection instruments to lift the gaseous veil that covers stars in their earliest stages of formation.
Together They have discovered something interesting. That the most massive star clusters finish forming stars more quickly. It may seem banal, but it has very important implications.
From cloud to star. Stars are born in star clusters that form when a cloud of gas collapses under the effect of high pressure and gravity. Therefore, we have the gas cloud, then the star cluster, and then the stars that are being born.
Stellar feedback. In turn, stars can influence the birth of other stars through a process known as stellar feedback. Two things can happen. Violent processes, such as a supernova explosion in massive stars, cause gas clouds to collapse, promoting the formation of more stars. On the other hand, younger stars release a lot of ultraviolet radiation during their birth. This radiation, together with the stellar winds, causes the gas clouds to disperse, so that no more stars can continue to form.
beyond the veil. Thanks to James Webb’s ability to go beyond the gas cloudsit has been possible to reach the interior of 9,000 star clusters, located in 4 different nearby galaxies. Thus, it has been possible to analyze the spectrum of light emitted by each of them. This information is used to know their mass and age. For this reason, it has been proven that the most massive clusters disperse the gas clouds in 5 million years, while those with less mass can take up to 8 million years to do the same.
Okay, so what? We already have this information, but why is it so useful? The truth is that it is very interesting information, because it helps us understand how galaxies are formed. Depending on the location of the most massive star clusters, the formation of new stars will be shaped differently. As soon as the gas clouds disperse, stars can no longer continue to form, so at points where there are massive clusters there is less time for this to occur.
We also learn about planets. On the other hand, as explained in a statement from the European Space Agencythis information also helps us understand how planets form. And we must not forget that around the stars are the protoplanetary disks in which the planets are born.
The faster gas is removed within a star cluster, the sooner protoplanetary disks around the stars will be exposed to intense ultraviolet radiation from other stars. That means they will have less opportunity to attract gas and accumulate dust to create new planets. Everything is connected. Thanks to the team formed by James Webb and Hubble, we now know much better how it happens.
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