December 11, 2014 Swarms of Pluto-Size Objects Kick Up Dust around Adolescent News Release By making detailed observations of the protoplanetary disk surrounding the star known as HD 107146, the astronomers detected an unexpected increase in the concentration of millimeter-size dust grains in the disk's outer reaches. This surprising increase, which begins remarkably far -- about 13 billion kilometers -- from the host star, may be the result of Pluto-size planetesimals stirring up the region, causing smaller objects to collide and blast themselves apart.

November 7, 2014 Science Update The Role of Magnetic Fields in Star Formation Massive stars tend to form in clusters as the gas and dust in molecular clouds collapses and fragments under the influence of gravity. In the classic picture of star formation, gravity must eventually compete against the thermal pressure that develops in the collapsing core as the material heats up.

June 24, 2014 SMA Event: Celebrating a Decade of Discovery News Release Ten years ago, eight antennas on the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawai'i, united to form a telescope unlike any other. Since then the Submillimeter Array (SMA) has examined the universe in unprecedented detail and provided new insights into subjects as diverse as planetary formation and distant galaxies. Its achievements were celebrated earlier this month at a conference in Cambridge, Mass. Conference Website

February 26, 2014 SMA Unveils How Small Cosmic Seeds Grow into Big Stars News Release New images from the Smithsonian's Submillimeter Array (SMA) telescope provide the most detailed view yet of stellar nurseries within the Snake nebula. These images offer new insights into how cosmic seeds can grow into massive stars.