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TOPIC: IRAS 18162-2048

Blobrana

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Posts: 131433

Date: Nov 26 10:52 2010

IRAS 18162-2048	Permalink

Discovery at Young Star Hints Magnetism Common to All Cosmic Jets Astronomers have found the first evidence of a magnetic field in a jet of material ejected from a young star, a discovery that points toward future breakthroughs in understanding the nature of all types of cosmic jets and of the role of magnetic fields in star formation. The astronomers used the National Science Foundation's Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope to study a young star some 5,500 light-years from Earth, called IRAS 18162-2048. This star, possibly as massive as 10 Suns, is ejecting a jet 17 light-years long. Observing this object for 12 hours with the VLA, the scientists found that radio waves from the jet have a characteristic indicating they arose when fast-moving electrons interacted with magnetic fields. This characteristic, called polarisation, gives a preferential alignment to the electric and magnetic fields of the radio waves. Read more __________________

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