how massive stars are born tagged posts

​Magnetic fields play an important role in the places where most massive stars are born. In this illustration, bright spots represent the sources of radio signals from methanol masers, and the curved lines represent the magnetic field.​​​​​​​ ​Wolfgang Steffen/Boy Lankhaar et al. (molecules: Wikimedia Commons/Ben Mills)

A team of scientists, led by Boy Lankhaar at Chalmers University of Technology, has solved an important puzzle in astrochemistry: how to measure magnetic fields in space using methanol, the simplest form of alcohol. Their results, published in the journal Nature Astronomy, give astronomers a new way of investigating how massive stars are born.

Over the last half-century, many molecules have been discovered in space...