Cheers! Bubbly 'Champagne Flow' of Stars Revealed in New Image, Video

A dramatic new picture of young stars shows captures a cosmic "champagne flow" as the stars blow away hot hydrogen gas around them.

The image was captured by the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile, which spotted the stars inside the nebula RCW 34 in the southern constellation of Vela. ESO officials unveiled the image today (May 27) along with a video of the "champagne flow" in space.

When the gas reaches the edge of the nebula, it explodes into the vacuum of space in the "champagne flow" pattern, which gets its name because it leaves behind characteristic bubbles.

This spectacular view of the nebula RCW 34 showcases a formation that scientists call "champagne flow" as young stars form. The nebula is located in the southern constellation Vela (The Sails) and observed by the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope. (Image credit: European Southern Observatory)

Usually, stars that are in the same cloud are expected to be about the same age. In the case of nebula RCW 34, however, astronomers can see hydrogen clumping around older stars embedded in the nebula, while hydrogen is less profuse at the outskirts.

This leads astronomers to suspect that there were several bursts of star formation, with the oldest stars in the middle representing the first wave.

"Vast amounts of dust within the nebula block the view of the inner workings of the stellar nursery deeply embedded in these clouds," ESO scientists said in a statement.

The region around the nebula RCW 34 is seen in this amazing view captured by the Digitized Sky Survey 2. The nebula is located in the direction of the southern constellation Vela (The Sails) and is also known as Gum 19. (Image credit: European Southern Observatory/Digitized Sky Survey 2)

"RCW 34 is characterized by extremely high extinction, meaning that almost all of the visible light from this region is absorbed before it reaches Earth," they said. "Despite hiding away from direct view, astronomers can use infrared telescopes to peer through the dust and study the nest of embedded stars."

The hydrogen in the cloud is ionized, meaning that it has been exposed to ultraviolet radiation and the hydrogen's electrons were stripped from the atoms.

Ionized hydrogen is common in star-forming regions. Stars are believed to form from the collapse of vast amounts of gas in a nebula, such as what is seen in the new image.

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Elizabeth Howell
Staff Writer, Spaceflight

Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., is a staff writer in the spaceflight channel since 2022 covering diversity, education and gaming as well. She was contributing writer for Space.com for 10 years before joining full-time. Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House and Office of the Vice-President of the United States, an exclusive conversation with aspiring space tourist (and NSYNC bassist) Lance Bass, speaking several times with the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, flying parabolic, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Her latest book, "Why Am I Taller?", is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams. Elizabeth holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota, a Bachelor of Journalism from Canada's Carleton University and a Bachelor of History from Canada's Athabasca University. Elizabeth is also a post-secondary instructor in communications and science at several institutions since 2015; her experience includes developing and teaching an astronomy course at Canada's Algonquin College (with Indigenous content as well) to more than 1,000 students since 2020. Elizabeth first got interested in space after watching the movie Apollo 13 in 1996, and still wants to be an astronaut someday. Mastodon: https://qoto.org/@howellspace