Witnessing the Birth of a Massive Star

Massive stars are giants several hundred times the mass of our Sun, which have the ability to form neutron stars and black holes at the end of their burning cycle. They are a rare occurrence in the Universe, so the processes involved in their birth sequences have been very little understood u... [ read more >> ]

This is an artist's conception of the "boiling disk" surrounding the massive young stellar object known as Orion Source I

Image comment: This is an artist's conception of the "boiling disk" surrounding the massive young stellar object known as Orion Source I
Image credits: Bill Saxton / NRAO / AUI / NSF

This is an artist's conception of the "boiling disk" surrounding the massive young stellar object known as Orion Source I