MADRID, June 12 (EUROPA PRESS) –
Magnetic fields in 30 Doradus, a region of ionized hydrogen at the heart of the Large Magellanic Cloud, they could be the key to its surprising star-forming behavior.
Most of the energy in 30 Doradus, also called the Tarantula Nebula, comes from the massive star cluster near its center, R136, which is responsible for multiple giant layers of sprawling matter. But in this region near the core of the nebula, within about 25 parsecs of R136, things are a bit strange, as explained by NASA. The gas pressure here is lower than it should be near the intense stellar radiation of R136, and the mass of the area is less than expected for the system to remain stable.
Using the high-resolution Airborne Wideband Camera Plus (HAWC+) camera at the now-retired Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), astronomers studied the interaction between magnetic fields and gravity in 30 Doradus. It turns out that magnetic fields are the region’s secret ingredient.
The recent study, published in The Astrophysical Journalfound that the magnetic fields in this region are simultaneously complex and organized, with large variations in geometry related to the large-scale sprawling structures at play.
But how do these complex but organized fields help 30 Doradus to survive? In most of the area, the magnetic fields are incredibly strong. They are strong enough to resist turbulence, so they can still regulate the movement of gas and keep the cloud structure intact.
They are also strong enough to prevent gravity from taking over and causing the cloud to collapse into stars.
However, the field is weaker at some points, allowing gas to escape and inflate the giant shells. As the mass in these layers increases, the stars can continue to form despite strong magnetic fields.
Observing the region with other instruments may help astronomers better understand the role of magnetic fields in the evolution of 30 Doradus and other similar nebulae.
