"New Images Confirm Multiple Births of Massive Stars"

New images from the ALMA radio observatory confirm that a crowded star cluster, G333.23-0.06, is birthing groups of three, four, and five stars, consistent with star formation models. These observations provide evidence for a specific scenario for high-mass star formation and reveal that the young stars in the cluster don't have disks of dust and gas around them, indicating they are forming via a different process known as "core fragmentation." Further analyses of other star clusters are expected to provide more insights into the early stages of multiple star formation.