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NASA's Webb Telescope Will Investigate Cosmic Jets from Young Stars

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November 14, 2018 10:00AM (EST)Release ID: 2018-53
The frame is filled by a pair of thin horizontal orange-gold jets, known as Herbig-Haro 212, that start at bottom left and end at top right. Just off center within this cloud are two bright areas, with a dark gap in between. Matter appears to be streaming away at both points, toward the bottom left and toward the upper right. The orange-gold jets are wider toward the outer edges on either side. The jet at the top right forms a rough arrow shape where it ends. The background is black and has gold dots of various sizes, which may be stars and galaxies, scattered across the view.

Summary

Infrared Light Penetrates Dusty Cocoons to Reveal Secrets of Star Birth

Young stars, like young children, are messy eaters, swallowing most of the material falling onto them but spitting the rest out. The gas a newborn star fails to eat gets ejected outward at supersonic speeds, creating shock waves that heat the interstellar medium and cause it to glow in infrared light. NASA’s Webb telescope will examine stellar outflows and shocks to learn more about how stars like our sun form.

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Full Article

The formation of a star sounds like a simple process: a cloud of gas collapses in on itself, growing denser and hotter until nuclear fusion ignites and a star begins to shine. The reality is more complex and dramatic. Swirling gas spins faster and faster, threatening to rip the still-forming star into pieces. Clumps of matter are captured within a tangle of magnetic fields and squirt outward at supersonic speeds. All of it happens within a dusty shroud that blocks visible light. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope will penetrate that dusty veil and reveal new secrets of star birth.  ...

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News releases highlighting the discoveries of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope are produced for NASA by the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland, under NASA Contract NAS5-03127. News release content is developed by the News Team in STScI’s Office of Public Outreach.

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