Astronomers have published a unique new image obtained by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). It captured the “conjunction” of a nearby space tornado and a distant spiral galaxy.
Mystery of “space tornado”
In 2006, the Spitzer telescope discovered object HH 49/50, which, due to its characteristic spiral shape, was nicknamed “space tornado”. It represents the so-called Herbig-Haro object. Such structures arise when streams of matter ejected by forming stars crash into nearby gas and dust clouds. This creates shock waves that heat the material to high temperatures. The material is then cooled, emitting light in the visible and infrared wavelengths.
Although the Spitzer images clarified the nature of HH 49/50, astronomers were unsure of the nature of the blurry object atop the “tornado”. The JWST helped solve this mystery. Its images showed that the fuzzy object is actually a spiral galaxy. Of course, their proximity is apparent. While HH 49/50 is only 630 light-years away, the galaxy is many millions of light-years away.
Home of the newborn stars
HH 49/50 is part of the Chamaeleon I cloud, one of the closest active star-forming regions to us, where many sun-like stars are born. Most likely, our home luminary was once also formed in one of these “stellar maternity homes”.
The JWST observations helped astronomers trace the location of glowing hydrogen molecules, carbon monoxide molecules, and energized dust grains represented by the colors orange and red. They were also able to identify many previously unknown small details in the structure of HH 49/50.
The source of the “tornado” is located 1.5 light-years from HH 49/50 (lower right corner of the JWST image) and is a Class I protostar. This stage lasts from tens of thousands to millions of years and is characterized by active absorption of matter from the massive disk surrounding the star.
As for the galaxy photographed by JWST, it has a clearly visible central bulge (blue) that is home to older stars, as well as hints of spiral structure. The red color in the image indicates warm dust and star-forming regions.
In conclusion, it’s worth noting, we were fortunate that JWST caught these two sites in such a good mutual location. Over the next thousand years, the edge of HH 49/50 will gradually shift outward and eventually close the galaxy completely.
According to Esawebb
