Magnetic secrets of methanol in space
Channel: Onsala rymdobservatorium
Date: 2018-01-29

How are stars born? And how can magnetic fields help astronomers find out about star formation? 

There are many ways that scientists can probe the formation of stars. Scientists can measure temperature, pressure and gas motions when they study the signature of molecules in the signals they detect. But especially where the most massive stars are born, there’s another major player that’s more difficult to measure: magnetic fields.

When the biggest and heaviest stars are born, we know that magnetic fields play an important role. But just how magnetic fields affect the process is a subject of debate among researchers. So we need ways of measuring magnetic fields, and that’s a real challenge.

Read more in press release at Chalmers:
English:
http://www.chalmers.se/en/researchinfrastructure/oso/news/Pages/Astrochemists-reveal-the-magnetic-secrets-of-methanol.aspx

Swedish:
http://www.chalmers.se/sv/forskningsinfrastruktur/oso/nyheter/Sidor/Astrokemister-metanol-magnetiska-hemligheter.aspx

Credits:

Animation: Daria Dall'Olio
Script: Boy Lankhaar and Daria Dall'Olio
Voiceover: Boy Lankhaar
Camera: Daria Dall'Olio and Piero Ranalli
Music: Grzegorz Klopotek
Editing: Boy Lankhaar
Images: NASA (the Sun); Berndt Meyer (iron filings; CC BY-SA 3.0); Rick Bethlem www.few.vu.nl/~rick/ (animated molecule); Wolfgang Steffen/Boy Lankhaar et al. (molecules: Wikimedia Commons/Ben Mills) (artist's impression of forming massive star with masers and schematic magnetic field lines).

Made with the support of Onsala Space Observatory, Department of Space, Earth and Environment, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden.
http://www.chalmers.se/sv/institutioner/see/Sidor/default.aspx
http://www.chalmers.se/oso