What crucial role do the focused, fast-moving streams perpendicular to the protoplanetary disk, known as bipolar jets, play in stellar birth?

Answer

They help shed excess angular momentum and clear away obscuring gas and dust

The process of star formation involves managing significant amounts of angular momentum inherited from the parent GMC rotation. If this angular momentum were not managed, the rapidly spinning protostar would spin itself apart before reaching stability. Bipolar jets are highly collimated, energetic outflows that shoot out perpendicular to the accretion disk, driven by magnetic fields channeling some of the infalling material. Their critical function is twofold: first, they effectively expel angular momentum from the system, allowing the core to contract further; and second, these powerful outflows sweep away the thick, obscuring envelope of gas and dust surrounding the protostar, allowing astronomers to eventually observe the star clearly and signaling the end of the deeply embedded phase.

What crucial role do the focused, fast-moving streams perpendicular to the protoplanetary disk, known as bipolar jets, play in stellar birth?

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