X3a is approximately 10 times larger than the Sun, 15 times as massive, and is only several tens of thousands of years old. Multiwavelength detection of the X3 system with NIRC2 instrument at the W.M. Keck Observatory in 2019. Image credit: Peißker et al., doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/aca977. “The properties of star formation are well defined and require environments characterized by a sufficiently low temperature (less than 20 K) and a high gas density,”...
