New discoveries ALMA studies ‘pregnant’ clouds in the Milky Way

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Star-spawning ‘peacock clouds’ hint at galaxy interaction

The two images shown here look like the beautifully colored tails of peacocks, don’t you think?Well, think again. In reality, these are giant clouds of gas in a neighboring galaxy. The ‘feathers’ are long filaments of gas. Deep within the two clouds, the gas is compressed into several very...

ALMA sees two-way traffic around a black hole

Here’s an easy experiment you can do at home. Fill the kitchen sink with water. Then pull out theplug, and carefully watch how the water flows down the drain. You will notice that it doesn’tdisappear in a straight line. Instead, the water flows away in a rotating, spiral pattern.You’ll...

Fat Stars Grow Just Like Skinny Stars

How much did you weigh when you were born? Most newborns are between 3 and 4 kilograms at birth. But not all. Some babies weigh much more or much less. It all depends on how fast they grew. With baby stars, it’s the same. Most newborn stars can have...

ALMA sees how matter spirals into a young baby star

Do you remember the last time you were on a merry-go-round on a playground or a fair? Because ofthe fast rotation, you felt like being pushed outward. It would be very hard to make your way to thecenter of the merry-go-round! The same ‘centrifugal force’ is at play in...

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