Astronomers have glimpsed the birth of possibly the youngest known star, giving them an insight into the earliest stages of star formation, according to a recent study published in the Astrophysical Journal.
The object, which has just begun pulling in matter from the surrounding cloud of gas and dust to form its dense, hot core, was spotted in the Perseus star-forming region in our Milky Way galaxy, about 800 light-years away.
The future star, L1448-IRS2E, is less than one-tenth as bright as the sun, and was detected only by the faint light emitted by the surrounding dust cloud, said the U.S. and German researchers.
The object, which has just begun pulling in matter from the surrounding cloud of gas and dust to form its dense, hot core, was spotted in the Perseus star-forming region in our Milky Way galaxy, about 800 light-years away.
The future star, L1448-IRS2E, is less than one-tenth as bright as the sun, and was detected only by the faint light emitted by the surrounding dust cloud, said the U.S. and German researchers.