Stars don’t form out of nothing, but tracking the gas and dust that do eventually form stars is hard. They float around the galaxy at almost absolute zero, emitting essentially no light, and generally making life difficult for astronomers. But part of how they make life difficult is actually the key to studying them—they have absorption lines that detail what kind of material the light is passing through on its way to Earth.



Summary

Stars originate from interstellar gas and dust, though this material is difficult to observe. Existing at near-absolute zero, this pre-stellar matter emits almost no light, hindering direct detection. However, astronomers utilize a clever workaround: they analyze absorption lines in the spectra of light traveling through these regions. These lines act as fingerprints, revealing the composition and density of the intervening gas and dust, effectively unlocking the secrets of star-forming regions indirectly.

Read more…

This post is part of “Science and Technology News”, Follow for more…!!!

Credits: Source

Disclaimer