And now, it appears, they even burp. It is surprising that nature can maintain such perfect symmetry, said Guillem Anglada of the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia in Granada, Spain. This appears to be a triumph of order over chaos. After several months of observations, the bubble, formed by water molecules, had grown in diameter to 9.3 billion kilometres, the researchers report in Thursday s issue of the journal Nature. The discovery means scientists might have to rethink their theories of star formation, said Harvard astronomer Paul Ho, another member of the team.
Astronomers believe a star forms from a rotating cloud of dust and gas.
The classical theory is that this spinning disc feeds the young star, while two streams of excess matter are ejected from the poles. These fountain-like jets keep the star from spinning so fast that it tears itself apart. This is the first time astronomers have seen excess matter ejected in spherical bubbles instead of in straight jets. The thing is it s not the classical way we understand stars form, Ho said. How important it is, only time can tell.