Accretion discs, low-mass protostars and planets: probing the impact of magnetic fields on stellar formation

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent observational and theoretical advances in understanding how magnetic fields influence the formation of stars, protostars, and planetary systems, highlighting their crucial role at all stages of stellar evolution.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of key breakthroughs in the study of magnetic fields' impact on stellar and planetary formation, integrating observations and models.

Findings

Magnetic fields are fundamental in shaping protostellar jets and accretion processes.

Recent observations confirm the significance of magnetic fields in molecular cloud collapse.

Theoretical models increasingly incorporate magnetic effects to explain star formation phenomena.

Abstract

Whereas the understanding of most phases of stellar evolution made considerable progress throughout the whole of the twentieth century, stellar formation remained rather enigmatic and poorly constrained by observations until about three decades ago, when major discoveries (e.g., that protostars are often associated with highly collimated jets) revolutionized the field. At this time, it became increasingly clearer that magnetic fields were playing a major role at all stages of stellar formation. We describe herein a quick overview of the main breakthroughs that observations and theoretical modelling yielded for our understanding of how stars (and their planetary systems) are formed and on how much these new worlds are shaped by the presence of magnetic fields, either those pervading the interstellar medium and threading molecular clouds or those produced through dynamo processes in the convective envelopes of protostars or in the accretion discs from which they feed.