The Small Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy near the Milky Way, has been observed to provide new insights into early universe star formation. Researchers from Kyushu University and Osaka Metropolitan University have found that some stars may have formed in “fluffy” molecular clouds in the early universe.
In our solar system, molecular clouds form elongated “filamentary” structures about 0.3 light-years wide. However, it is unclear how this structure formed in the early universe. The researchers used the ALMA radio telescope to observe 17 molecular clouds in the Small Magellanic Cloud and found that 60% of them had a filamentary structure.
The team discovered that stars forming within these fluffy clouds were much smaller than our sun. In contrast, those formed in the filamentary clouds were about 20 times more massive. The temperature inside the filamentary clouds was also higher than in the fluffy ones.
According to Kazuki Tokuda, Post-Doctoral Fellow at Kyushu University, “the environment, such as an adequate supply of heavy elements, is crucial for maintaining a filamentary structure.” He believes that this study may play an important role in understanding planetary system formation.
The findings suggest that studying molecular clouds with environments similar to the early universe can provide new insights into star formation and the universe’s evolution. The team plans to compare their results with observations of molecular clouds in heavy-element-rich environments, including our own Milky Way galaxy.
Source: https://phys.org/news/2025-02-small-magellanic-cloud-insight-early.html