Science Daily — XMM-Newton has surveyed nearly two hundred stars under formation to reveal, contrary to expectations, how streams of matter fall onto the young stars’ magnetic atmospheres and radiate X-rays.

The results defy astronomers’ expectations, as the streams of falling matter interact with the hot corona, cooling it, while the ejected streams of gas heat up in shocks as they are ejected from the star.

The new XMM-Newton results paint a dramatic picture of the role magnetic fields play in star formation. “Star formation is a battle between gravity and everything else,” says Manuel Guedel, Paul Scherrer Institut, Villigen, Switzerland, who leads a large project addressing magnetic activity in young stars within the constellation of Taurus.