Free Astronomy Magazine March-April 2025

36 MARCH-APRIL 2025 ASTRO PUBLISHING that the N79 region hosts a second super star cluster in the LMC, which is only 100,000 years old. This discov- ery allows astronomers to observe the birth of a super star cluster in our neighboring galaxy. The LMC, a satellite galaxy of our own Milky Way, is located nearly 160,000 light-years from Earth. This relatively “nearby” distance makes it an ideal laboratory for studying extragalactic star formation. The JWST Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) observed 97 young stellar objects (YSOs) in the N79 region of the LMC, where the newly discovered super star cluster, H72.97-69.39, is located. The abundance of heavy elements in the LMC is half as much as our Solar System’s, with similar star-forming conditions to 6-7 billion years ago. This gives astronomers a glimpse of how star formation could have oc- curred in the universe’s early days. MIRI images show that the most massive YSOs gather near H72.97- 69.39, and the less massive YSOs are distributed on the outskirts of N79— a process known as mass segrega- tion. What was previously thought to be a single massive young star has now been revealed as clusters of five young stars, brought to light ALMA has significantly contributed to studying YSOs in the LMC, partic- ularly in the N79 region. Previous ALMA observations of this region re- vealed two colliding, parsec-long fil- aments of dust and gas. At their collision point lies super star cluster H72.97-69.39, home to the most lu- minous protostar identified by JWST. Filaments of molecular gas colliding could be the catalyst needed to cre- ate a super star cluster—and ALMA observations provide crucial context for understanding the larger-scale environment in which these YSOs are forming. This multi-wavelength research, combining data from JWST A second super star cluster in the LMC A stronomers have made groundbreaking discoveries about young star formation in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) by utilizing the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) alongside observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Ar- ray (ALMA). The study, published in The Astrophysical Journal, provides new insights into the early stages of massive star formation beyond our galaxy. About 6-7 billion years ago, super star clusters were the primary way stars formed, generating hundreds of new stars yearly. This form of star formation has been declining, with superstar clusters now rarely found in our Local Universe. Currently, only two super star clusters are known in the Milky Way, alongside one in the LMC, all of which are millions of years old. Recent observations from the JWST have provided evidence by ALMA Observatory Nicolás Lira & Bárbara Ferreira