A Cosmic Pretzel
Twin baby stars grow in a complex pretzel-shaped network of gas and dust filaments.
Thanks to ALMA’s extremely high resolution, we can see the inner structure of this object for the first time.
The stars pull mass from a surrounding disk of gas and dust which produces twirling loops.
The size of each disk is similar to the asteroid belt in the Solar System.
This phenomenon sheds new light on the earliest moments in the lifetimes of stars.