Hubble photographs jets of newborn stars in the Orion Nebula

Astronomers working with the Hubble telescope have published a new image. It shows a jet produced by a newborn star.

A protostar’s jet in the Orion Nebula (Hubble photo). Source: ESA/Hubble & NASA, T. Megeath

The Hubble photo shows a section of the Orion Nebula: a massive star-forming region located 1,300 light-years from Earth. It can be seen with the naked eye (under perfect observing conditions) under the three stars that form the famous “belt” in the constellation of Orion.

The nebula is home to hundreds of newborn stars, including the two protostars HOPS 150 and HOPS 153. HOPS 150 is in the upper right corner of the Hubble image. It is a binary system consisting of a pair of young protostars orbiting each other. Each one has a small dust disk around it from which it feeds. The dark line across the bright glow of protostars is a cloud of gas and dust more than 2,000 times the distance between Earth and the Sun. Judging by the amount of infrared light emitted by HOPS 150, the protostars are in the middle of their life journey to becoming full-fledged stars.

Through the entire left side of the image stretches a narrow multicolored stream of matter called a jet. It comes from the protostar HOPS 153, which is outside Hubble’s frame. It is a significantly younger stellar object than the neighboring HOPS 150. The protostar is still in the depths of its “cocoon” and is enveloped in clouds of cold dense gas. While Hubble cannot penetrate this gas to see the protostar, it can see the jet of matter emitted by HOPS 153. It is embedded in the surrounding gas and dust of the Orion Nebula, giving rise to characteristic structures.

The transition from a tightly “swaddled” protostar to a full-fledged star will dramatically affect the environment of HOPS 153. When gas falls on a protostar, its jets release material and energy into interstellar space, carving cavities in the surrounding gas clouds and heating them. By exciting and heating nearby gas, HOPS 153 will be able to regulate the formation of new stars in its region and even slow its own growth.

Earlier we told you about the best images of the James Webb telescope.

According to Esahubble

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