Astronomers Uncover "Sneezes" from Baby Stars' Protostellar Discs

On 11th April 2024, Astronomers revealed that protostellar discs surrounding infant stars emit "sneezes" of dust, gas, and electromagnetic energy, offering valuable insights into their nature.

Key Points

Stellar Birthplaces: All stars, including the Sun, originate in stellar nurseries composed of dense gas and dust.
As these materials coalesce, they form a stellar core or "baby star," surrounded by a protostellar disc.
Magnetic Field Dynamics: These discs are influenced by magnetic fields, retaining all magnetic flux would lead to excessively strong fields.
Observational Analysis: Using data from the ALMA array of radio telescopes in Chile, researchers examined MC 27; a stellar nursery located 450 light-years away.
They discovered spike-like structures extending from the protostellar disc, indicating expelled magnetic flux, dust, and gas.
Interchange Instability: The observed phenomenon, termed "interchange instability," results from magnetic field instabilities interacting with varying gas densities in the protostellar disc, causing outward expulsion of magnetic flux.
Insights and Future Prospects: Additional spikes observed farther from the protostellar disc may represent past "sneezes."