An intense study, led by University astronomers, of one of the galaxy's well-known star-forming regions discovered that more than one-third of the young stars emit strong radio waves.

These results were surprising since radio emission was not thought to be a characteristic of young stars, said Eric Feigelson, associate professor of astronomy.

"We found 40 percent of the young stars emitting radio waves," said Feigelson.

Feigelson and James Leous, a doctoral candidate in astronomy, used the National Science Foundation's National Radio Astronomy Observatories (NRAO) Very Large Array Telescope in Socorro, N.M., to investigate the star-forming cloud in the constellation Ophiuchus. They presented their results in January at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Arlington, Va.

The study, conducted with Phillipe Andre of NRAO/Tucson and Thierry Montmerle of the Center for Nuclear Studies in Saclay, France, was the most sensitive survey of radio emissions from young stellar objects to date. Leous said the team surveyed two areas of the cloud for about eight hours each.

"We didn't expect (the results) to be this good; we thought we'd only see 25 to 33 percent (of the young stars emitting radio waves)," he said. "The reason our data is better than previous data is that we looked for so long."

The cause of the radio emission is under investigation, Feigelson said. The main question is why these average young stars are emitting such strong radio waves, he said.

"If you put the sun at that distance, you wouldn't get anything," he said.

Stars that are less than 10 million years old are considered young. The sun is middle-aged at 4 billion years old and emits radio signals 100,000 times weaker than the young stars, Feigelson said.

The team has shown in some cases the cause is powerful magnetic flare events on the young star's surface, he said. However, Leous said the radiation mechanism has not been determined.

Leous said the study will lead to further investigation. He said more sensitive infrared equipment could discover a greater percent of radio wave-emitting young stars.

He added that the information from such studies can be applied closer to home.

"You can look at a region where stars are being formed and get a picture of how our sun and earth were formed," he said.