APOD: 2023 September 19 Б HH 211: Jets from a Forming Star
Explanation:
Do
stars always create jets as they form?
No one is sure.
As a gas cloud
gravitationally contracts,
it forms a
disk
that can spin too fast to continue contracting into a
protostar.
Theorists
hypothesize that this spin can be reduced by expelling jets.
This speculation coincides with known
Herbig-Haro (HH) objects, young stellar objects seen to emit jets --
sometimes in
spectacular fashion.
Pictured is Herbig-Haro 211, a young star in formation
recently imaged by the
Webb Space Telescope (JWST) in
infrared light and in
great detail.
Along with the
two narrow beams of particles, red
shock waves can be seen as the outflows impact
existing interstellar gas.
The jets of
HH 221 will
likely change shape as they brighten and fade
over the next 100,000 years, as research into the details of
star formation continues.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
