Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 10, 2025
07:19
Protocol for Biofilm Streamer Formation in a Microfluidic Device with Micro-pillars
Published on: August 20, 2014
12.3K
Massive extended streamers feed high-mass young stars.
Fernando A Olguin1,2,3, Patricio Sanhueza4, Adam Ginsburg5
1Center for Gravitational Physics, Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa Oiwakecho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan.
Science Advances
|August 20, 2025
Summary
High-mass protostars can form via streamers, not just disks. These gas streamers channel material directly to the star, potentially regulating feedback effects during star formation.
Area of Science:
- Astronomy
- Astrophysics
- Star Formation
Background:
- Star formation environments influence protostar mass accretion.
- Protoplanetary disks are traditionally considered the primary sites for gas accretion onto protostars.
- Angular momentum conservation suggests disks are ubiquitous around young stars.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate alternative accretion mechanisms beyond protoplanetary disks.
- To characterize the morphology and role of gas inflows during high-mass star formation.
- To determine if observed inflows can sustain accretion rates sufficient to impact feedback.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing high-resolution observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA).
- Analyzing observational data to identify and trace gas inflow structures.
- Quantifying the mass and flow rates of observed streamers.
Main Results:
- Discovery of inflows in the form of streamers, not solely disks.
- Streamers observed to persist within the expected disk radius.
- These streamers act as a substitute for disks, channeling material directly to the protostar or a compact disk.
Conclusions:
- Gas streamers play a significant role in feeding high-mass protostars.
- Streamers can bypass or substitute for traditional disks in the accretion process.
- The observed accretion rates via streamers are sufficient to potentially regulate or quench feedback from young massive stars.
Related Concept Videos
01:14Gravitation Between Spherically Symmetric Masses
984
The gravitational potential energy between two spherically symmetric bodies can be calculated from the masses and the distance between the bodies, assuming that the center of mass is concentrated at the respective centers of the bodies.
984
01:10Detection of Black Holes
2.3K
Although black holes were theoretically postulated in the 1920s, they remained outside the domain of observational astronomy until the 1970s.
Their closest cousins are neutron stars, which are composed almost entirely of neutrons packed against each other, making them extremely dense. A neutron star has the same mass as the Sun but its diameter is only a few kilometers. Therefore, the escape velocity from their surface is close to the speed of light.
Not until the 1960s, when the first neutron...
Their closest cousins are neutron stars, which are composed almost entirely of neutrons packed against each other, making them extremely dense. A neutron star has the same mass as the Sun but its diameter is only a few kilometers. Therefore, the escape velocity from their surface is close to the speed of light.
Not until the 1960s, when the first neutron...
2.3K
01:24Rapidly Varying Flow
138
Rapidly varying flow (RVF) in open channels is characterized by abrupt changes in flow depth over a short distance, with the rate of depth change relative to distance often approaching unity. These flows are inherently complex due to their transient and multi-dimensional nature, making exact analysis difficult. However, approximate solutions using simplified models provide valuable insights into their behavior.Key Features of Rapidly Varying FlowRVF is commonly observed in scenarios involving...
138
02:39Emission Spectra
64.8K
When solids, liquids, or condensed gases are heated sufficiently, they radiate some of the excess energy as light. Photons produced in this manner have a range of energies, and thereby produce a continuous spectrum in which an unbroken series of wavelengths is present.
64.8K
03:40Hess's Law
46.1K
There are two ways to determine the amount of heat involved in a chemical change: measure it experimentally, or calculate it from other experimentally determined enthalpy changes. Some reactions are difficult, if not impossible, to investigate and make accurate measurements for experimentally. And even when a reaction is not hard to perform or measure, it is convenient to be able to determine the heat involved in a reaction without having to perform an experiment.
46.1K
01:20Stream Function
1.6K
In two-dimensional incompressible fluid flow, the continuity equation is essential for ensuring mass conservation, meaning that any change in fluid entering or exiting a region is balanced by a corresponding change elsewhere. For incompressible flow, where density remains constant, this requirement simplifies to the condition that the divergence of the velocity field must be zero. Mathematically, this is expressed as,
1.6K