Aligned Protostellar Outflows Captured for First Time | James Webb Space Telescope

Aligned Protostellar Outflows Captured for First Time | James Webb Space Telescope

For the first time, a phenomenon astronomers have long hoped to image directly has been captured by the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope’s Near-InfraRed Camera (NIRCam). In this image of the Serpens Nebula, the discovery lies in the northern area of this young, nearby star-forming region.

Astronomers have found an intriguing group of protostellar outflows, formed when jets of gas spewing from newborn stars collide with nearby gas and dust at high speeds. Typically these objects have a variety of orientations within one region. Here, however, they are all slanted in the same direction, to the same degree, like sleet pouring down during a storm.

The discovery of these aligned objects, made possible only by Webb’s exquisite spatial resolution and sensitivity at near-infrared wavelengths, is providing information about the fundamentals of how stars are born.

The Serpens Nebula, located 1,300 light-years from Earth, is home to a particularly dense cluster of newly forming stars (about 100,000 years old), where a number will eventually grow to the mass of our Sun. Webb’s image of this nebula revealed a grouping of aligned protostellar outflows (seen in the top left). The jets are identified by bright clumpy streaks that appear red. These are shock waves caused when the jet hits the surrounding gas and dust.

Video Credits:

Directed by: Bethany Downer and Nico Bartmann

Editing: Nico Bartmann

Written by: Bethany Downer

Footage: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, K. Pontoppidan (NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory), J. Green (Space Telescope Science Institute)

Duration: 2 minutes

Release Date: June 20, 2024

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