Molecules spew outward from a dying star. These molecules are confined into narrow jets by a tightly-wound magnetic field. Astronomers used the National Science Foundation’s Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) radio telescope to find this, while studying an old star about 8,500 light-years from Earth.



The star is in the constellation Aquila, and is called W43A. It is in the process of forming a planetary nebula, a shell of brightly-glowing gas lit by the hot ember into which the star will collapse. The aging star was found by astronomers to be ejecting twin jets of water molecules in 2002. That discovery can be credited as a breakthrough in understanding how many planetary nebulae are formed into elongated shapes.



Via: Physorg