ALMA Discovers Parallel Jets from Pair of Young Stars
The combined ALMA/JWST image of the twin jets and accretion discs in WL20. Credit: U.S. NSF/ NSF NRAO/B. Saxton.; NASA/JPL-Caltech/Harvard-Smithsonian CfA.
Observations from ALMA and the JWST Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) of the star system WL20 within the Rho Ophiuchi Molecular Cloud have revealed that this system contains not one protostellar object, as previously expected, but two. Additionally, the new images show that each protostellar object is surrounded by its own disc and has jets emerging above its poles. This discovery provides new insights into the nature of the formation of binary and multiple star systems and shows the advantages of combining ALMA and JWST observations.
These results were first presented at the 244th meeting of the American Astronomical Society by Mary Barsony et al. Their abstract is available from ADS Abstracts, and additional images and information can be found in the press release on ALMA’s website.
ALMA at the National Astronomy Meeting
The National Astronomy Meeting is coming up next week (14-19 July), and just as a reminder, the meeting will feature multiple sessions that may be of interest to ALMA users, including the following:
- Connecting the Milky Way with its parent populations at the dawn of time (Monday, Tuesday)
- Era of SKAO Pathfinders – Pushing the Boundaries of the Radio Sky (Monday)
- Gravitational Lensing in the Era of Big Data (Tuesday)
- Modelling Astrochemical Processes in the Universe (Tuesday, Wednesday)
- The mm/submm sky – achievements and future prospects (Tuesday)
- Observations and modelling of small-scale transient phenomena in the solar atmosphere (Thursday)
- Solar Flares & CMEs and their impact across the Solar System: Observations, Theory, and Machine learning (Friday)
- Venuses near and far (Friday)
See the full session program for more information.
Additionally, the UK ALMA Regional Centre Node will be present in the exhibition space at the National Astronomy Meeting. Feel free to stop by if you want to talk about anything ALMA-related or if you want to pick up any ALMA freebies.
Opticon Radionet Pilot Funding Available
The Opticon Radionet Pilot has additional funding available until the end of 2024 for face-to-face visits at one of the European ARC Nodes. This can be useful for getting assistant on accessing, calibrating, imaging, and analyzing data. If any astronomers want to use this funding, please fill in the form at this link.