Catching a massive star in the early stages of formation is a rare event in astronomy, making it an exciting moment to study. A group of researchers took advantage of the discovery of one youthful star and used the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) to reveal the magnetic processes that allow such a massive star to form.
Composite image of BYF 73 with magnetic fields overlayed.
The magnetic field orientations of BYF 73, as derived from SOFIA data, are overlain on a composite image of the region taken by the Spitzer Space Telescope and Anglo-Australian Telescope. The circled areas are locations of protostars in the region identified by ALMA and the Gemini Observatory. These studies help astronomers uncover the relationship between magnetism and gravity in star formation. Credit: NASA/Spitzer/SOFIA/ALMA/Gemini/AAT/Barnes et al.
The stellar nursery where the action is taking place, called BYF 73, is not your typical star-forming cloud. It’s relatively small, but at its central core is a young star that holds the record for the highest known rate of protostellar mass accretion, the process by which a growing star accumulates mass from its surrounding material.
Using SOFIA and another observatory – the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile – Peter Barnes, a research scientist at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado, and his team examined the magnetic fields within this cloud amid ongoing star formation. Studying the orientation of magnetic fields can shed light on their role in massive-star formation, a long-standing question. Massive stars form through a different process from their more average counterparts, relying on an ongoing exchange of material with their environment, rather than accreting mass from a surrounding disk of matter.
maintenance, and other support for the mission. NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley managed the SOFIA program, science, and mission operations in cooperation with the Universities Space Research Association, headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, and the German SOFIA Institute at the University of Stuttgart. The aircraft was maintained and operated by NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center Building 703, in Palmdale, California. SOFIA achieved full operational capability in 2014 and concluded its final science flight on Sept. 29, 2022.