Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, astronomers created a high-resolution map of over a thousand giant molecular clouds in NGC 1387—the primary sites of star formation.

Tracing carbon monoxide emissions, the study shows these clouds closely resemble those in the Milky Way, suggesting that the physics of star birth may be universal.

The data also reveals how galactic dynamics and turbulence shape these stellar nurseries, linking small-scale cloud collapse to the larger evolution of galaxies.

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