Using combined data from a trio of orbiting X-ray telescopes,
including NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Japan-led
Suzaku satellite, astronomers have obtained a rare glimpse of
the powerful phenomena that accompany a still-forming star. A
new study based on these observations indicates that intense
magnetic fields drive torrents of gas into the stellar surface,
where they heat large areas to millions of degrees. X-rays
emitted by these hot spots betray the newborn star's rapid
rotation. Astronomers first took notice of the young star, known
as V1647 Orionis, in January 2004, near the peak of an outburst.
The eruption had brightened the star so much that it illuminated
a conical patch of dust now known as McNeil's Nebula. Both the
star and the nebula are located about 1,300 light-years away in
the constellation Orion. Astronomers quickly determined that
V1647 Ori was a protostar, a stellar infant still partly
swaddled in its birth cloud. "Based on infrared studies, we
suspect that this protostar is no