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Astronomers Observe Cosmic Tug-of-War as Gravity Reshapes Magnetic Fields in Star Clusters

  • This image from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope shows a star formation region in molecular cloud NGC 6334, also known as the Cat's Paw Nebula. The colors correspond with emission at 3.6 microns (blue), 4.5 microns (green), and 8 microns (red). This cloud is actively forming massive stars, and is located in the constellation Scorpius, between 4,200 to 5,500 light-years from Earth. ALMA data overlaid on the image shows details of four specific areas that were observed (NGC6334I, NGC6334I(N), NGC6334IV and NGC6334V), revealing invisible forces of magnetism and gravity as they wrestle and shape theformation of stars deep within the giant molecular cloud. The color scale in the ALMA images represents the intensity of the dust emission at a wavelength of 1.3 mm and the drapery lines represent the orientation of the magnetic field. Credit for composite image: background, NASA/JPL-Caltech; overlay:ESO/NAOJ/NSF NRAO; image created by NSF/AUI/NSF NRAO/M. Weiss.

    This image from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope shows a star formation region in molecular cloud NGC 6334, also known as the Cat's Paw Nebula. The colors correspond with emission at 3.6 microns (blue), 4.5 microns (green), and 8 microns (red). This cloud is actively forming massive stars, and is located in the constellation Scorpius, between 4,200 to 5,500 light-years from Earth. ALMA data overlaid on the image shows details of four specific areas that were observed (NGC6334I, NGC6334I(N), NGC6334IV and NGC6334V), revealing invisible forces of magnetism and gravity as they wrestle and shape the
    formation of stars deep within the giant molecular cloud. The color scale in the ALMA images represents the intensity of the dust emission at a wavelength of 1.3 mm and the drapery lines represent the orientation of the magnetic field. 
    Credit for composite image: background, NASA/JPL-Caltech; overlay:
    ESO/NAOJ/NSF NRAO; image created by NSF/AUI/NSF NRAO/M. Weiss.

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