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James Webb Space Telescope observations of Sagittarius C (Sgr C), a star-forming region at the Milky Way’s core, are providing unprecedented insights into the perplexing processes of stellar birth. Scientists are using these new infrared data to explore why this stellar nursery, despite its vast gas reserves, produces fewer stars than anticipated, revealing surprising details about the role of magnetic fields in star formation.
Webb Telescope Uncovers Filamentary Structures in Star-Forming Region Sagittarius C
Stars are essential for the creation of nearly all chemical elements in the cosmos, including carbon and oxygen, which are vital for life. However, despite extensive research, numerous aspects of star formation remain unclear, particularly within the thick, opaque clouds of gas where stars originate. New observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) are beginning to demystify these processes by focusing on Sagittarius C (Sgr C).
An Unexpected Discovery in a Stellar Nursery
Located just 200 light-years from the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A*, in an extreme environment, Sgr C possesses abundant molecular gas. Yet, its star formation rate is lower than expected. In 2023, the JWST captured initial infrared images of this stellar nursery, enabling astronomers to penetrate the veil of gas and dust and examine its nascent star population with enhanced clarity.
A recent analysis of this data has unveiled previously unseen features: numerous bright, elongated filaments of hot plasma. Some of these plasma strands extend several light-years, interweaving throughout the Sgr C nursery.
Magnetic Fields Shape Stellar Nurseries
Rubén Fedriani, a researcher at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, noted the unexpected nature of these structures. “We were definitely not expecting those filaments,” he stated, emphasizing the serendipitous nature of the discovery.
Researchers believe these newly identified filaments are shaped by the strong magnetic fields present in the region. These fields are amplified by the turbulent gas motions surrounding Sagittarius A*, the central supermassive black hole. This black hole, with a mass approximately four million times that of the sun, exerts powerful gravitational forces on its surroundings.
Impact on Star Formation Rates
These powerful magnetic forces may counteract the typical gravitational collapse of molecular clouds necessary for star formation. Instead, they might be compressing matter into the dense filaments observed in the JWST images. This confinement of material helps explain the reduced star formation rate in Sgr C, as detailed in two recent scientific papers.
Astrophysicist John Bally, from the University of Colorado Boulder, highlighted the significance of this finding. “For the first time, we are directly observing that intense magnetic fields could play a crucial role in hindering star formation, even on small scales,” he explained.
Samuel Crowe, of the University of Virginia, added that this opens new avenues for research. “The influence of strong magnetic fields on stellar environments, both in our galaxy’s center and in other galaxies, warrants deeper consideration,” he stated.
Stellar Winds and Cavity Walls
Further analysis of the JWST data by Bally and his team indicates that two massive, young stars near the center of Sgr C are positioned between pairs of parallel filaments. These filaments likely delineate the boundaries of cavities carved out by powerful stellar winds emanating from these young stars.
A Transient Stellar Nursery
Observations suggest that due to its extreme location, Sgr C has expelled a significant portion of its star-forming material. This expulsion indicates that this stellar nursery might dissipate within a few hundred thousand years – a relatively short period in the universe’s vast 13.7 billion-year timescale.
“It’s almost the end of the story,” Bally concluded, emphasizing the fleeting existence of this particular star-forming region.
These discoveries are documented in two separate papers published in the Astrophysical Journal on Wednesday, April 2.