Stars are like kids; they don’t always stay where they’re born.
Over time, they move away and spread across the vast galaxy, much like birds leaving the nest. But have you ever wondered how stars do this?
Scientists have two main theories. One idea is that young stars get pushed away because of playful tugs and pulls with their star buddies.
Another is that when the clouds they’re born from collapse or jostle around, stars get a nudge and start moving.
Usually, by the time we spot a moving star, it’s already far away from where it was born. The newborn or baby stars, called protostars, are usually hidden inside thick, cloudy blankets.
This makes it hard for scientists to see them move or figure out how they began their journey.
But here’s some exciting news!
A team of star detectives from different research institutions in China have spotted a baby star making its move for the first time!
They used a super telescope called ALMA to peek inside star nurseries and noticed something special in one area named G352.63-1.07.
Here’s what’s cool: they saw a baby star that wasn’t moving at the same pace as the cloud it was born from.
It’s like seeing a duckling swimming faster than its family in a pond. This baby star was moving away, almost like it was trying to escape!
By looking at its speed and where it was in the cloud, the researchers think this little escape artist started its journey only about 4,000 years ago. That might sound ancient to us, but for stars, that’s just a blink of an eye!
This escape act is a pretty powerful one, with the baby star using a lot of energy. The interesting thing is, even though it’s not zooming out as quickly as some other stars, its speed is pretty much what we see with many young stars that have spread out. This makes scientists think that maybe the push from the collapsing cloud is what mostly helps stars make their escape.
Imagine the universe as a giant nursery. Professor Li Di, one of the smart folks behind this discovery, explained it like this: “Stars are like the universe’s powerhouse. The one we found running away is still a tiny baby.”
Catching this little one in action gives us a glimpse into how stars, even ones like our sun, might have started their journey. It’s like having a photo of a baby’s first step, but for the universe!
The team is thrilled about this discovery. But the universe is vast and mysterious, so they still have more puzzles to solve.
They’ll continue to study this star and its home to understand better why it’s making a quick exit and what’s happening in that region.
In a nutshell, the universe is vast and full of wonders, and even as we learn more each day, there’s always a new starry mystery waiting to be unraveled!
The study was published in The Astrophysical Journal.
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