Massive Particle Wind Discovered Streaming From Stellar Nursery

Astronomers have discovered a stream of particles escaping from a young massive star cluster, Westerlund 1. This is the first time that such a particle wind has been discovered in a stellar nursery. New Delhi: Astronomers have discovered a stream of particles escaping from Westerlund 1, a star cluster at a distance of 13,000 lightyears from the Earth. The cluster is four million years old, and contains hundreds of massive stars, packed within a region measuring six lightyears across. For comparison, the Sun is 4.5 billion years old. This is the first time that a particle wind escaping from a star cluster in the form of a particle stream has been detected. The stream can leave the galactic disk and feed the halo, contributing to the chemical evolution of a galaxy. For three years now, scientists knew that Westerlund 1 acts as a natural particle accelerator, accelerating cosmic rays composed mainly of protons, electrons and a small amount of heavier nuclei. In 2022, gamma radiation was discovered encompassing Westerlund-1, with electrons accelerated to dizzying speeds at the fringes of the cluster by the collective magnetic winds of 100,000 stars. The radiation appeared as a ring around the cluster, as well as a tail that pointed away from the plane of the galaxy. Scientists were able to determine that gamma radiation is escaping from the cluster in form of particles propagating through interstellar space, over more than 500 lightyears. Modelling used to probe processes