Sunday, December 18, 2011

Massive Stars Start Life Big… Really BIG!

Massive Stars Start Life Big… Really BIG!:



Artist’s impression illustrating the formation process of massive stars. At the end of the formation process, the surrounding accretion disk disappears, revealing the surface of the young star. At this phase the young massive star is much larger than when it has reached a stable equilibrium, i.e., when arriving on the so-called main sequence. Copyright: Lucas Ellerbroek/Lex Kaper University of Amsterdam



It might be hard to believe, but massive stars are larger in their infant stage than they are when fully formed. Thanks to a team of astronomers at the University of Amsterdam, observations have shown that during the initial stages of creation, super-massive stars are super-sized. This research now confirms the theory that massive stars contract until they reach the age of equilibrium. (...)
Read the rest of Massive Stars Start Life Big… Really BIG! (451 words)




© tammy for Universe Today, 2011. |
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