ALMA: Baby Star Spits a "Spinning Jet"

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ALMA: Baby Star Spits a "Spinning Jet"

Post by bystander » Mon Jun 12, 2017 9:48 pm

Baby Star Spits a “Spinning Jet” As It Munches Down on a “Space Hamburger”
ALMA | ESO | NRAO | NAOJ | 2017 Jun 12
[img3="Jet and disk in the HH 212 protostellar system: (a) Molecular jet (green image) ejected from the innermost part of the accretion disk (orange image), observed with ALMA at a resolution of 8 au. A dark lane is seen in the disk equator, causing the disk to appear as a “hamburger”. A size scale of our solar system is shown in the lower right corner for size comparison. (b) Split of the redshifted (turning away from us) and blueshifted (turning toward us) emission of the jet in order to show the spinning motion of the jet, as indicated by the green arrows. Blue and red arrows show the rotation of the disk, which has a direction the same as the jet rotation.
Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/Lee et al
"]http://www.almaobservatory.org/wp-conte ... 2a-lee.jpg[/img3][hr][/hr]
Protostellar jets are seen coming out from protostars (baby stars), representing one of the most intriguing signposts of star formation. An international research team, led by Chin-Fei Lee in Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics (ASIAA, Taiwan), has made a new breakthrough observation with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), finding a protostellar jet to be spinning, convincingly for the first time. This new result confirms the expected role of the jet in removing the excess angular momentum from the innermost region of an accretion disk (space hamburger), providing a solution to the long-standing problem of how the inner accretion disk can feed a protostar.

“We see jets coming out from most of baby stars, like a train of bullets speeding down along the rotational axis of the accretion disks. We always wonder what their role is. Are they spinning, as expected in current models of jet launching? However, since the jets are very narrow and their spinning motion is very small, we had not been able to confirm their spinning motion. Now using the ALMA with its unprecedented combination of spatial and velocity resolutions, we not only resolve a jet near a protostar down to 10 astronomical units (au) but also detect its spinning motion”, says Chin-Fei Lee at ASIAA. “It looks like a baby star spits a spinning bullet each time it takes a bite of a space hamburger.” ...

HH 212 is a nearby protostellar system in Orion at about 1300 lightyears. The central protostar is very young with an age of only 40,000 years (which is about 10 millionth of the age of the Sun) and a mass of only a fifth of the Sun. Recent ALMA observations at submillimeter wavelength have detected an accretion disk feeding the central protostar. The disk is nearly edge-on and has a radius of about 60 au. Interestingly, it shows a prominent equatorial dark lane sandwiched between two brighter features, appearing as a “space hamburger”. ...

A Rotating Protostellar Jet Launched from the Innermost Disk of HH 212 - Chin-Fei Lee et al
http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?p=270803#p270803
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Re: ALMA: Baby Star Spits a "Spinning Jet"

Post by neufer » Tue Jun 13, 2017 1:11 am

.
  • All the whorl's a stage,
    And all the men and women merely players:
    They have their exits and their entrances;
    And one man in his time plays many parts,
    His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
    Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
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ASIAA: Complex Organic Molecules Found on "Space Hamburger"

Post by bystander » Thu Jun 29, 2017 3:11 pm

Complex Organic Molecules Found on "Space Hamburger"
Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics (ASIAA) | 2017 Jun 29

Prebiotic Atmosphere Discovered on Accretion Disk of Baby Star
Click to play embedded YouTube video.
An international research team ... has used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to detect complex organic molecules for the first time in the atmosphere of an accretion disk around a very young protostar. These molecules play a crucial role in producing the rich organic chemistry needed for life. The discovery suggests that the building blocks of life are produced in such disks at the very beginning of star formation and that they are available to be incorporated into planets that form in the disk subsequently. It could help us understand how life came to be on Earth. ...

Herbig-Haro (HH) 212 is a nearby protostellar system in Orion at a distance of about 1,300 light-years. The central protostar is very young, with an estimated age of only 40,000 years -- about 1/100,000th the age of our Sun -- and a mass of only 0.2 solar mass. It drives a powerful bipolar jet and thus must accrete material efficiently. Indeed, an accretion disk is seen feeding the protostar. The disk is nearly edge-on and has a radius of about 60 astronomical units (AU), or 60 times the average Earth-Sun distance. Interestingly, it shows a prominent equatorial dark lane sandwiched between two brighter features, looking like a "space hamburger."

The research team's ALMA observations have clearly detected an atmosphere of complex organic molecules above and below the disk. These include methanol (CH3OH), deuterated methanol (CH2DOH), methanethiol (CH3SH), and formamide (NH2CHO). These molecules have been proposed to be the precursors for producing biomolecules such as amino acids and sugars. ...

Formation and Atmosphere of Complex Organic Molecules of the HH 212 Protostellar Disk - Chin-Fee Lee et al
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Re: ASIAA: Complex Organic Molecules Found on "Space Hamburger"

Post by neufer » Thu Jun 29, 2017 3:25 pm

.
"Two all-beef patties, special sauce*, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions – on a sesame seed bun."

*a variant of Thousand Island dressing
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Re: ASIAA: Complex Organic Molecules Found on "Space Hamburger"

Post by starsurfer » Mon Jul 03, 2017 5:12 pm

neufer wrote:.
"Two all-beef patties, special sauce*, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions – on a sesame seed bun."

*a variant of Thousand Island dressing
Don't forget the extra hot chilli sauce! (Seriously this forum needs a flaming chilli or cactus smilie)

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