OAPA astronomers participated at the study: “Laboratory unraveling of matter accretion in young stars” of G. Reves published by Science Advances

Pre-Main Sequence stars are young stars (solar type pre-main sequence stars are younger than about 30 million years), that are often observed surrounded by a disc of haas and dust called “protoplanetary discs”. These discs can actively accreting matter onto the central star, with a complex process resulting from a complicated interplay between the gas of the disc and the magnetic field of the central star. It is of crucial importance to deeply understand this process, given its role on the stellar early evolution.

 

The international team led by G. Reves (Laboratoire pour l’Utilisation des Lasers Intenses, Ecole Polytechnique Upmc/Cnrs, France) has reproduced in laboratory for the first time the accretion process onto young stars. The paper describing the study, “Laboratory unraveling of matter accretion in young stars“, has been recently published by Science Advances. The astronomers of the Astronomical Observatory of Palermo Rosari Bonito and Salvatore Orlando and of the University of Palermo Costanza Argiroffi have participated to the study realizing detailed simulations of the process.

 

At the following link it is possible to read the article by Media INAF on the study, together with the interviews of the OAPA and UNIPA astronomers coauthors of the paper.

 

The figure (link) shows a snapshot of the simulation realized by the UNIPA/OAPA team, describing the density and temperature evolution of the accreting matter.