The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has captured the ‘antics’ of a pair of actively forming young stars, known as Herbig-Haro 46/47, in a high-resolution image in near-infrared light. This is the most detailed portrait of these stars, which reside only 1470 light-years away in the constellation Vela, to date.
To find the pair of young stars, trace the bright pink and red diffraction spikes in the image until you hit the centre: the stars are within the orange-white splotch. They are buried deeply in a disc of gas and dust that feeds their growth as they continue to gain mass. The disc is not visible, but its shadow can be seen in the two dark, conical regions surrounding the central stars.
The pair of actively forming stars has sent out jets in two directions for thousands of years. Although Herbig-Haro 46/47 has been studied by many telescopes, both on the ground and in space, since the 1950s, Webb is the first to capture them at high resolution in near-infrared light. With Webb, we can now understand more of the stars’ activity — past and present — and peer through the dusty blue nebula, which appears black in visible-light images, that surrounds them. Over time, researchers will be able to glean new details about how stars form.
The most striking details are the two-sided lobes that fan out from the actively forming central stars, represented in fiery orange. Much of this material was shot out from those stars as they repeatedly ingest and eject the gas and dust that immediately surround them over thousands of years.
When material from more recent ejections runs into older material, it changes the shape of these lobes. This activity is like a large fountain being turned on and off in rapid, but random succession, leading to billowing patterns in the pool below it. Some jets send out more material and others launch at faster speeds. Why? It’s likely related to how much material fell onto the stars at a particular point in time.
The stars’ more recent ejections appear in a thread-like blue. They run just below the red diagonal diffraction spike at two o’clock. Along the right side, these ejections make clearer wavy patterns. They are disconnected at points, and end in a remarkable uneven light purple circle in the thickest orange area. Lighter blue, curly lines also emerge on the left, near the central stars, but are sometimes overshadowed by the bright red diffraction spike.
All of these jets are crucial to the star formation process itself. Ejections regulate how much mass the stars ultimately gather. (The disc of gas and dust feeding the stars is small. Imagine a band tightly tied around the stars.)
Now, turn your eye to the second most prominent feature: the effervescent blue cloud. This is a region of dense dust and gas, known both as a nebula and more formally as a Bok globule. When viewed in mainly visible light, it appears almost completely black — only a few background stars peek through. In Webb’s crisp near-infrared image, we can see into and through the gauzy layers of this cloud, bringing a lot more of Herbig-Haro 46/47 into focus, while also revealing a wide range of stars and galaxies that lie well beyond it. The nebula’s edges appear in a soft orange outline, like a backward L along the right and bottom of the image.
This nebula is significant — its presence influences the shapes of the jets shot out by the central stars. As ejected material rams into the nebula on the lower left, there is more opportunity for the jets to interact with molecules within the nebula, causing them both to light up.
There are two other areas to look at to compare the asymmetry of the two lobes. Glance toward the upper right to pick out a blobby, almost sponge-shaped ejecta that appears separate from the larger lobe. Only a few threads of the semi-transparent wisps of material point toward the larger lobe. Almost transparent, tentacle-like shapes also appear to be drifting behind it, like streamers in a cosmic wind. In contrast, at lower left, look beyond the hefty lobe to find an arc. Both are made up of material that was pushed the farthest and possibly by earlier ejections. The arcs appear to point in different directions, and may have originated from different outflows.
Take another long look at this image. Although it appears Webb has snapped Herbig-Haro 46/47 edge-on, one side is angled slightly towards Earth. Counterintuitively, it’s the smaller right half. Though the left side is larger and brighter, it is pointing away from us.
Over millions of years, the stars in Herbig-Haro 46/47 will form fully — clearing the scene of these fantastic, multihued ejections and allowing the binary stars to take centre stage against a galaxy-filled background.
Webb can reveal so much detail in Herbig-Haro 46/47 for two reasons. The object is relatively close to Earth, and Webb’s image is made up of several exposures, which adds to its depth.
Herbig-Haro 46/47 (NIRCam image)
The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has captured a high-resolution image of a tightly bound pair of actively forming stars, known as Herbig-Haro 46/47, in near-infrared light. Look for them at the centre of the red diffraction spikes. The stars are buried deeply, appearing as an orange-white splotch. They are surrounded by a disc of gas and dust that continues to add to their mass.
Herbig-Haro 46/47 is an important object to study because it is relatively young — only a few thousand years old. Stars take millions of years to form. Targets like this also give researchers insight into how stars gather mass over time, potentially allowing them to model how our own Sun, a low-mass star, formed.
The two-sided orange lobes were created by earlier ejections from these stars. The stars’ more recent ejections appear as blue, thread-like features, running along the angled diffraction spike that covers the orange lobes.
Actively forming stars ingest the gas and dust that immediately surrounds them in a disc (imagine an edge-on circle encasing them). When the stars ‘eat’ too much material in too short a time, they respond by sending out two-sided jets along the opposite axis, settling down the star’s spin, and removing mass from the area. Over millennia, these ejections regulate how much mass the stars retain.
Don’t miss the delicate, semi-transparent blue cloud. This is a region of dense dust and gas, known as a nebula. Webb’s crisp near-infrared image lets us see through its gauzy layers, showing off a lot more of Herbig-Haro 46/47, while also revealing a wide range of stars and galaxies that lie far beyond it. The nebula’s edges transform into a soft orange outline, like a backward L along the right and bottom of the image.
The blue nebula influences the shapes of the orange jets shot out by the central stars. As ejected material rams into the nebula on the lower left, it takes on wider shapes, because there is more opportunity for the jets to interact with molecules within the nebula. Its material also causes the stars’ ejections to light up.
Over millions of years the stars in Herbig-Haro 46/47 will form fully — clearing the scene.
Take a moment to linger on the background. A profusion of extremely distant galaxies dot Webb’s view. Its composite NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) image is made up of several exposures, highlighting distant galaxies and stars. Blue objects with diffraction spikes are stars, and the closer they are, the larger they appear. White-and-pink spiral galaxies sometimes appear larger than these stars, but are significantly farther away. The tiniest red dots, Webb’s infrared specialty, are often the oldest, most distant galaxies.
[Image description: At the centre is a thin horizontal orange cloud tilted from bottom left to top right. It takes up about two-thirds of the length of this angle, but is thin at the opposite angle. At its centre is a set of very large red and pink diffraction spikes in Webb’s familiar eight-pointed pattern. It has a central yellow-white blob, which hides two tightly orbiting stars. The background is filled with stars and galaxies.]
Credit:
NASA, ESA, CSA, J. DePasquale (STScI)
Herbig-Haro 46/47 (NIRCam image - annotated)
The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has captured a high-resolution image of a tightly bound pair of actively forming stars, known as Herbig-Haro 46/47, in near-infrared light. Look for them at the centre of the red diffraction spikes. The stars are buried deeply, appearing as an orange-white splotch. They are surrounded by a disc of gas and dust that continues to add to their mass.
Six near-infrared images from NIRCam (the Near-Infrared Camera) aboard the James Webb Space Telescope make up this composite of Herbig-Haro 46/47.
The north and east compass arrows show the orientation of the image on the sky. Note that the relationship between north and east on the sky (as seen from below) is flipped relative to direction arrows on a map of the ground (as seen from above).
This image shows invisible near-infrared wavelengths of light that have been translated into visible-light colours. The colour key shows which NIRCam filters were used when collecting the light. The colour of each filter name is the visible light colour used to represent the infrared light that passes through that filter.
The scale bar is labelled in arcminutes, which is a measure of angular distance on the sky. One arcminute is 1/60 of one degree. (The full Moon has an angular diameter of about 30 arcminutes.) The actual size of an object that covers one arcminute on the sky depends on its distance from the telescope.
Herbig-Haro 46/47 is an important object to study because it is relatively young — only a few thousand years old. Stars take millions of years to form. Targets like this also give researchers insight into how stars gather mass over time, potentially allowing them to model how our own Sun, a low-mass star, formed.
The two-sided orange lobes were created by earlier ejections from these stars. The stars’ more recent ejections appear as blue, thread-like features, running along the angled diffraction spike that covers the orange lobes. Actively forming stars ingest the gas and dust that immediately surrounds them in a disc (imagine an edge-on circle encasing them). When the stars ‘eat’ too much material in too short a time, they respond by sending out two-sided jets along the opposite axis, settling down the star’s spin, and removing mass from the area. Over millennia, these ejections regulate how much mass the stars retain.
Don’t miss the delicate, semi-transparent blue cloud. This is a region of dense dust and gas, known as a nebula. Webb’s crisp near-infrared image lets us see through its gauzy layers, showing off a lot more of Herbig-Haro 46/47, while also revealing a wide range of stars and galaxies that lie far beyond it. The nebula’s edges transform into a soft orange outline, like a backward L along the right and bottom of the image.
The blue nebula influences the shapes of the orange jets shot out by the central stars. As ejected material rams into the nebula on the lower left, it takes on wider shapes, because there is more opportunity for the jets to interact with molecules within the nebula. Its material also causes the stars’ ejections to light up.
Over millions of years, the stars in Herbig-Haro 46/47 will form fully — clearing the scene.
Take a moment to linger on the background. A profusion of extremely distant galaxies dot Webb’s view. Its composite NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) image is made up of several exposures, highlighting distant galaxies and stars. Blue objects with diffraction spikes are stars, and the closer they are, the larger they appear. White-and-pink spiral galaxies sometimes appear larger than these stars, but are significantly farther away. The tiniest red dots, Webb’s infrared specialty, are often the oldest, most distant galaxies.
[Image description: At the centre is a thin horizontal orange cloud tilted from bottom left to top right. It takes up about two-thirds of the length of this angle, but is thin at the opposite angle. At its centre is a red and pink star with prominent, eight-pointed diffraction spikes. It has a central yellow-white blob. The background is filled with stars and galaxies. At the bottom left are compass arrows indicating the orientation of the image on the sky. The east arrow points toward one o’clock. The north arrow points in the five o’clock direction. At the top right is a scale bar labelled 1 arcminute. The length of the scale bar is about one tenth of the total image. Below the image is a colour key showing which NIRCam filters were used to create the image and which visible-light colour is assigned to each filter. From left to right: F115W is blue; F187N is light blue; F200W is green; F335M is yellow; F444W is orange; and F470N is red.]
Credit:
NASA, ESA, CSA, J. DePasquale (STScI)
Fuente: ESA/Hubble/Webb Information Centre
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