[Research Results] Capturing the cosmic ‘drift’ before a star is born -Researchers observe the velocity difference between two molecules in a prestellar core, elucidating the process of early star formation-(Doris Arzoumanian)

• An international team, including MPE researchers, has found the first observational signature of ambipolar diffusion in a prestellar core.
• The result is based on high-resolution spectral observations of the dense core L1544 with the IRAM 30-meter telescope.
• The team detected a small but systematic velocity offset between an ion and a neutral molecule that traces nearly the same gas.
• The finding offers a new observational handle on how magnetic fields influence the earliest stages of star formation.
• Future observations could test whether similar signatures appear in other prestellar cores and help constrain magnetic fields, geometry, chemistry, and dust growth.

Stars like our Sun are formed from the gravitational collapse of prestellar cores. However, prestellar cores have strong magnetic fields that need to be weakened for gravitational collapse to take over allowing a star to form. By observing two tracer molecules in a prestellar core, researchers have observed ambipolar diffusion, a velocity discrepancy between ions and neutral particles. This process weakens the magnetic field of the core, which eventually collapses to form a protostar.

DOI：10.1051/0004-6361/202658871

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Doris Arzoumanian

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KYUSHU UNIVERSITY