Star's birth glimpsed 'in real time' - BBC News
Astronomers have witnessed a key stage in the birth of a very heavy star, using two radio telescope views of the process taken 18 years apart.
The young star is 4,200 light-years from Earth and appears to be surrounded by a doughnut-shaped cloud of dust.
The infant star is about 300 times brighter than the Sun and goes by the catchy name of W75N(B)-VLA2.
Being able to observe its dramatic growing pains in real time is unique, according to Prof Huib van Langevelde from Leiden University in the Netherlands, another of the study's authors.
Astronomers have witnessed a key stage in the birth of a very heavy star, using two radio telescope views of the process taken 18 years apart.
The young star is 4,200 light-years from Earth and appears to be surrounded by a doughnut-shaped cloud of dust.
The infant star is about 300 times brighter than the Sun and goes by the catchy name of W75N(B)-VLA2.
Being able to observe its dramatic growing pains in real time is unique, according to Prof Huib van Langevelde from Leiden University in the Netherlands, another of the study's authors.