Stars could be forming in an unusual way in a distant galaxy — in the backwash of a massive jet of gases spraying from the galaxy's core.
A team led by Yasir Rashed of the University of Cologne, Germany, used the MERLIN radio telescope array in the United Kingdom to study a galaxy some 1.4 billion parsecs from Earth. Gases shoot outwards from the galaxy's centre, presumably fuelled by a supermassive black hole.
Further observations showed that stars are probably forming near the galaxy. The authors suggest that the outflowing jets produce pressure pockets in the gas outside the galaxy, creating ideal spots for star birth.
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Cosmic jets trigger star birth. Nature 502, 144 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/502144b
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/502144b
