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Credit & Copyright: Bill Saxton,
ALMA
(ESO/NAOJ/NRAO),
NRAO/AUI/NSF -
Publication:
John Tobin
(Univ. Oklahoma/Leiden) et al.
Explanation:
A triple star system is forming, enshrouded within this dusty natal disk
some 750 light-years away in the
Perseus molecular cloud.
Imaged at millimeter wavelengths
by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array
(ALMA) in Chile,
the extreme close-up shows two protostars separated
by a mere 61 AU (1 AU is the Earth-Sun distance) with a
a third some 183 AU from the central protostar.
The ALMA image also reveals a clear spiral structure
indicating instability and fragmentation
led to the multiple protostellar objects within the disk.
Astronomers estimate
that the system, cataloged as L1448 IRS3B, is less than 150,000 years old.
Captured at an early phase,
the starforming scenario is likely
not at all uncommon, since almost half of all sun-like stars have
at least one companion.
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Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: circumstellar disk
Publications with words: circumstellar disk
See also: