A nearby stellar cradle
Deep observations by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory are probing how stellar “star factories” form and evolve.
By
NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. —
Published:
November 9, 2012 Credits: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/J.Drake et al, Optical: Univ. of Hertfordshire/INT/IPHAS, Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Scientists found young stars ranging in age from 1 million to 7 million years. The infrared data indicates that a low fraction of the stars have circumstellar disks of dust and gas. Even fewer disks were found close to the massive OB stars, betraying the corrosive power of their intense radiation that leads to early destruction of their disks. There is also evidence that the older population of stars has lost its most massive members because of supernova explosions. Finally, a total mass of about 30,000 times the mass of the Sun is derived for Cygnus OB2, similar to that of the most-massive star forming regions in our galaxy. This means that Cygnus OB2, located only about 5,000 light-years from Earth, is the closest massive star cluster.
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