A new star is born Astronomers in Chile have captured the birth of a new star some 1,400 light-years from Earth. The images from the European Southern Observatory's ALMA telescope in the Atacama Desert show the energetic burst of glowing gas that power new stars. It ejects material into space at supersonic speeds as high as one million kilometres per hour and collides with space dust and debris. The shots reveal never-before-seen details of the extreme speed of the jets of gas as they stream from the new star. Astronomers in Chile will use the footage to study the process of star formation and track the progress of the newborn star. More about: Astronomy, Space research, Space science