A Star is Born Stars are quite possibly the oldest, molecule possessing organism in the vast universe that harbors all infinite existence. The oldest star discovered is an estimated 13.2 billion years old (Stetson). How stars have come to exist was once as unknown as what they are comprised of. To find out how this cosmic, infinite universe came into existence, astronomers must first bring everything down to a more basic, molecular, atomic level. A star’s life is started as a collapsing cloud of hydrogen; helium and some other elements are pulled inwards by its own gravity, forming a core. Through nuclear fusion, most of the hydrogen is converted into helium and this is what keeps the star constantly burning for billions and billions of years. A star’s internal pressure is what keeps it from collapsing under its own massive gravity. However, if a star becomes too massive, and the internal pressure can no longer support itself, the star will collapse, receding into a black hole. Until recently, astronomers had observed that there were young stars in the universe, but had never quite exactly understood how they entered into our realm of existence, until now.
The Herschel space telescope was launched on May 14, 2009 and is the largest, post powerful infrared telescope in space, to our knowledge. In 2010, Herschel made two unrelated discoveries that were equally as astounding to astronomers. The first challenged our previous beliefs about star birth and the second provided a backbone to some evidence that had already been recognized.
Almost a year after its launch into space, on May 6, 2010 The Herschel space telescope discovered the birth of a star that is so impossibly massive, that it would dwarf our own sun. For a long time, it was thought that stars could not exceed eight solar masses. This star, located in star forming cloud RCW 120, already contains eight to ten solar masses, but is still forming. There have been discoveries of similar stars that exceed eight solar masses so the fact that they exist is no shock to astronomers. What excites astronomers about this discovery is that this is the first “impossible” star caught in the act of formation. The embryotic cloud that nurses this star, RCW 120, is providing the star with 2000 solar masses of gas and dust, which only boosts growth. The massive star would not be joining the universe for the next couple hundred thousand years, but according to Annie Zavagno, “This star can only grow bigger.” One way that a star of this magnitude holds itself together in a universe with no gravity, is by synthetically creating its own. Whether by chance or not, stars as massive as the one forming in RCW 120, rely on magnetic fields to attract gas, dust, ions and metallic elements. New research done by Lincoln Greenhill and his team at the National Science Foundation’s Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) has found that these magnetic fields may have more to do with the birth of stars than anyone had previously thought. “We know how these stars die, but not how they are born,” Greenhill states, “it means something must be exerting a lateral force on it, and we think that logically be a magnetic field.” Around the time the mature star is actually ready to be born, the cloud collapses and spins. The collapsing cloud and star spin faster and faster. “ The material does much the same thing as an ice skater, and if you don’t get rid of some of that spin, the material would never make it down to the star, the star’s gravity would not be enough to continue pulling it an and it would just fly off.” Basically, the spinning process acts as the last resort of packing the star together and a magnetic field is the only logical explanation for what powers the spin (Bryner). After the star gains an unbelievable amount of force by spinning, it was unclear as to how it ended up in the universe. Once again, The Herschel Telescope has given us an insider’s look into the star formation process and we are one step closer to finding out exactly what that process entails. This time, in a galaxy far away, Herschel is surveying a black patch of sky next to a cloud of very bright, reflective gas, known as NGC 1999. While Herschel was studying the cloud and its surroundings, the patch continued to appear black. This created confusion because Hershel’s infrared camera is designed to penetrate black patches. This left the possibility for two separate conclusions; it is either an extremely dense pocket of gas, or something had blown a hole through the cloud. It is possible that after the cloud and star revolve using the magnetic principle, the cloud creates so much friction and heats the star up so much, that it ignites and combusts, shooting the star out of the cloud like a bullet coming out of a gun. Herschel is still investigating this hole and other ones like it so that astronomers may have better insight into the steps of the star formation process (Space).

Works Cited
European Space Agency. "Herschel finds a hole in space: Surprising glimpse into end of star-forming process." ScienceDaily, 11 May 2010. Web. 13 Sep. 2012.
European Space Agency. "Birth of ‘Impossible’ Star Seen by European Space Telescope.” ScienceDaily, 6 May 2010. Web. 14 Sep. 2012.
Jeanna Bryner. “Magnetic Assist Helps Big Stars Form” ScienceDaily. 23 Nov 2009. Web. 15 Sep. 2012.