Stars being born in radiation-filled tornado

17 Jun 2002

New stars are being born in radiation-filled tornados that are whirling through space, astronomers said Thursday. The discovery was made in the heart of Lagoon Nebula, 5,000 light years away in the Sagittarius constellation, by a team of British, Canadian, Swedish and German astronomers.

The pictures show an object like a tornado. Stars recently born there are causing the material to be disturbed, producing the vortex structure," said British astronomer Glenn White.

The astronomers said in a statement that this newly discovered stellar "factory" is heated by radiation from the newly formed stars. The discovery was made possible by a powerful new radio telescope in Hawaii which picked up wavelength radiation from the nebula.