Simulation results showing the number density of gas particles for 16 simulations with different values of β, which increases as the rotation rate of the cloud increases. Notice that the scale of the images changes as β increases. Click for high-resolution version. Credit: Raghuvanshi and Dutta 2023
When the first stars in the universe formed, ending millions of years of
darkness, what masses did they have? This question is more than a
matter of idle curiosity: if any of the first stars formed with masses
less than 0.8 solar mass, they would still exist today. In a recent
research article, Shubham Raghuvanshi and Jayanta Dutta (both from the
Harish-Chandra Research Institute in India) performed hydrodynamic
modeling to test how the rotation of a primordial gas cloud affects the
resulting masses of the first stars. The images above and to the right
show the results of their simulations after 50 solar masses of gas had
been collected by the newly forming protostars. Ultimately, Raghuvanshi
and Dutta found that in the fastest-spinning clouds, 10–12% of young
stars might be ejected before they can grow past 0.8 solar masses. This
suggests that if early gas clouds spun fast enough, some of the most
ancient stars might still exist in modern galaxies, waiting to be found.
To learn more about how the team modeled the making of the first stars,
be sure to check out the full article linked below!
Citation:
“Simulating the Collapse of Rotating Primordial Gas Clouds to Study the
Possibility of the Survival of Population III Protostars,” Shubham P.
Raghuvanshi and Jayanta Dutta 2023 ApJ 944 76. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/acac30
