Extreme magnetic fields preventing stars from being born
(NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, SARAO, Samuel Crowe (UVA), John Bally (CU), Ruben Fedriani (IAA-CSIC), Ian Heywood (Oxford)) Extreme magnetic fields preventing stars from being born Stars are the architects of nearly all the chemical elements in the universe, including ones crucial to life as we know it, such as carbon and oxygen. Yet, despite decades of research, aspects of star formation are as mysterious as the dense, dark clouds of gas in which baby stars are embedded. The James Webb Space Telescope's observations of Sagittarius C (Sgr C), a star-forming region at the Milky Way's heart that appears to form fewer stars than expected, are shedding new light on some of these enigmatic processes. Read More