One of the greatest mysteries that astronomers hope to one day solve is how our Solar System formed. It’s long been known that star systems are shaped by collisions and other disruptive events, so whenever scientists are lucky enough to directly observe such an occurrence, it takes researchers one step closer to the answer.
In 2021, scientists made a breakthrough. They used the Atacama Large Millimeter/ submillimeter Array (ALMA), along with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), to peer at the Z Canis Majoris (Z CMa) star system. They wanted to study a stream of dust and gas that was stretching far into the darkness of space. In doing so they happened to capture an object which they could see had smashed into the protoplanetary disc of leftover material surrounding the protostar pair, and it got them very excited indeed.
Although astronomers had previously observed the effects of the collision – the streamer, as it’s referred to – this time researchers found something else. “We detected it almost purely by chance,” says Ruobing Dong, an astronomer at the University of Victoria in Canada and principal investigator of the study. “It was like going on a hiking trip, finding a beautiful leaf on a tree and taking a photo of it, only to examine the photo afterwards and find lightning in the background sky.”
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة Issue 127 من All About Space.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة Issue 127 من All About Space.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
15 AUTUMN STARGAZING TARGETS
Go on a night-sky treasure hunt as the brighter evenings give way to the cooler months
MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE WHY IS VENUS SO DRY?
A new study reckons the answer lies high in the Venusian atmosphere
WHEN BLACK HOLES TURN WHITE
Can bouncing black holes help physicists find the ultimate theory of everything?
THE MOON'S THIN ATMOSPHERE IS MADE BY CONSTANT METEORITE BOMBARDMENT
While the solar wind also contributes to the atmosphere, meteorites are the main culprit
INTERSTELLAR TRAVEL AND HOW TO BECOME A SPACE TOURIST
Having explored much of the Solar System, attention is now turning to the stars beyond
NASA'S PERSEVERANCE ROVER FINDS POSSIBLE SIGNS OF ANCIENT RED PLANET LIFE
Further analysis is needed, but a rock contains potential evidence that life once existed on Mars in the distant past
A NASA TELESCOPE MAY HAVE FOUND ANTIMATTER ANNIHILATING IN POSSIBLY THE BIGGEST EXPLOSION SINCE THE BIG BANG
The massive explosion was captured in 2022
Jameel Janjua "This is how we get to Mach 3”
Jameel Janjua made it to the bitter end in a Canadian government astronaut selection in 2009, but wasn't chosen. He found a different path to space through Virgin Galactic
BOEING NEEDS TO IMPROVE QUALITY CONTROL ON THE SLS MOON ROCKET
The NASA Inspector General's report finds serious quality-control issues affecting the upgraded version and expects cost overruns and delays
DARK ENERGY
THE MOST DOMINANT FORCE IN THE UNIVERSE IS ALSO ITS MOST MYSTERIOUS AND MOST UNANTICIPATED
