Are All Stars Created Equal? | Gemini Observatory
http://www.gemini.edu/node/12584
Astronomers using critical observations from the Gemini Observatory have found the strongest evidence yet
that the formation of more massive stars follow a path similar to their lower-mass brethren - but on steroids!
The new findings, that include data from Gemini, SOFIA, Calar Alto, and the European Southern Observatory,
show that the episodic explosive outbursts within what are called accretion disks, known to occur during
the formation of average mass stars like our Sun, also happen in the formation of very massive stars.
"These outbursts, which are several orders of magnitude larger than their lower mass siblings, can release about
as much energy as our Sun delivers in over 100,000 years," said Dr. Alessio Caratti o Garatti of the Dublin
Institute for Advanced Studies (Ireland). "Surprisingly, fireworks are observed not just at the end of the lives
of massive stars, as supernovae, but also at their birth!"
