CHANNELS
SERVICES
 
Spacer Homebase
Space telescope glimpses births of stars: NASA
WASHINGTON (AFP) May 27, 2004
The Spitzer Space Telescope has given US scientists their first glimpses of stars being born, NASA said Thursday.

The infrared telescope, launched in August 2003, captured more than 300 newly formed stars, about 13,700 lightyears from Earth in a zone called RCW 49, in the Centaurus constellation.

Preliminary data show that the stars are surrounded by dusty discs, an early phase in a star's life, said Ed Churchwell, of University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin and the lead investigator of the RCW 49 research.

A star and its disc are located inside a dense envelope of gas and dust. Planets are born in a star's disc.

"By seeing what's behind the dust, Spitzer has shown us star and planet formation is a very active process in our galaxy," Churchwell said.

Michael Werner, the Spitzer project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said scientists were only able to study a small sample of discs, but Spitzer will allow them to analyze thousands of them.

In another study, Spitzer was able to find ice particles within discs circling five young stars in the Taurus constellation, 420 lightyears from Earth.

The particles, covered with water, methanol and carbon dioxide, could explain the origins of comets, which many scientists consider the source of water and life on Earth.

One of the young stars shown by Spitzer, called CoKu Tau 4, could have in its orbit the youngest planet ever observed.

The star is about one million years old and the planet could be younger. By contrast, Earth is believed to be 4.5 billion years old.

"These early results show Spitzer will dramatically expand our understanding of how stars and planets form, which ultimately helps us understand our origins," Werner said.

In addition to Spitzer, NASA has three telescopes orbiting Earth: the Chandra X-ray Observatory, the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope.

A lightyear is the distance light travels in a year, about 9.5 trillion kilometers (six trillion miles).

All rights reserved. � 2004 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.

Quick Links
SpaceDaily
Search SpaceDaily
Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express

Nov 02, 2006
  • Discovery Rolls Toward Launch
  • A Mission To Mars Part Two
  • Chinese Lunar Orbiter Prototype On Display At Air Show
  • Shuttle Astronauts to Install Ball Aerospace Instruments Aboard Hubble Space Telescope
  • Mikulski Applauds Hubble Announcement, Says Decision Is Right For America
  • To The Dawn Of Space
  • Lost In Space No More
  • Oxygen Regeneration Restored At ISS
  • ISRO Moots Manned Mission To Space
  • Indigenous Cryogenic Stage Successfully Tested
  • LAUNCH Becomes First Magazine For Hobby Rocketry And Commercial Space Travel Enthusiasts
  • NASA Gives Hubble Telescope A New Lease On Life
  • Shape Of Things To Come-On The Moon
  • Iran To Step-Up Sensitive Nuclear Activities
  • North Korea To Rejoin Talks On Nuclear Program
  • China The Anti-Superpower Or The Second Hyperpower
  • Bush Says China Saving Too Much Money
  • Explosion Blows Out Window At Paypal In Silicon Valley
  • Arctic Snap Wreaks Havoc Across Nordic Region
  • Global Map Shows New Patterns Of Extinction Risk
  • Microbes Compete With Animals For Food By Making It Stink
  • More Species In The Tropics Because Life Has Been There Longer
  • Scientists Setting Dollar Value For Ecosystem
  • Czech Temelin Nuclear Reactor Hit By Fuel Problem
  • Most Lakes Across China Polluted Or Emptied Out By Humans
  • UK To Push India And EU Over Climate Change Response
  • White House Dismisses Chart Of Iraq Sliding Toward Chaos
  • Iraq Not Lost Yet
  • Red Cross Unveils Mass Southern Africa AIDS Project
  • China's Dirty Secret
  • SPACE.WIRE
    Bringing Space Home, When Your Mission Depends On It
    FREE SPACEDAILY NEWSLETTER
    SubscribeUnsubscribe
      






    The contents herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2004 - SpaceDaily. AFP Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement