The formation of stars and planets results from the complex interplay of various factors and agents: the collapse of the cloud due to its own gravitational force, its internal turbulence and magnetic effects, the evolution of star clusters formed within, and the interactions among young stars within these clusters, as well as the influence of their radiation on the surrounding
The amount of gas that is converted into stars by the star formation process is described by the star formation rate. For instance, in the Milky Way today between 0.7 and 1.5 solar masses of gas are converted into stars each year. However, this a mean value across our Galaxy, since locally clouds can start forming stars at higher rates
The James Webb Telescope (JWST) will be the most complex and powerful telescope ever launched into space. Built by a consortium formed by NASA, ESA, and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), thanks to its primary mirror with a diameter of 6.5 meters (for comparison, the mirror of the Hubble Space Telescope has a diameter of 2.5 meters) and its four
On June 2019, the panel for the evaluation of the proposals for observations with the NASA telescope Chandra, operating in the X-rays, which met up in Boston, has approved the Large Project: “Star formation in starburst: a deep ACIS-I observation of Westerlund 1“, led by the astronomer Mario Giuseppe Guarcello – INAF Astronomical Observatory of Palermo. More details on the
