SOFIA Science Result Featured on Cover of Nature Astronomy

Columbia, MD-- December 11, 2020.  The HAWC+ magnetic field results in Serpens South made the cover of the December 2020 issue of Nature Astronomy, Volume 4, Issue12, December 2020. 

The cover shows a composite image of the Serpens South Cluster.

The cover shows a composite image of the Serpens South Cluster. Magnetic fields observed by SOFIA are shown as streamlines over an image from the Spitzer Space Telescope. SOFIA’s data indicate that gravity can overcome magnetic fields to deliver material needed for new stars. The magnetic fields have been dragged into alignment with the most powerful flows, as seen in the lower left where the streamlines are following the direction of the narrow, dark filament. This is accelerating the flow of material from interstellar space into the cloud, and fueling the collapse needed to spark star formation. 

Credit: NASA/SOFIA/T. Pillai/.Kauffmann; NASA/JPL-Caltech/L. 

Here is the link: https://www.nature.com/natastron/volumes/4/issues/12