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Credit & Copyright: A. Noriega-Crespo
(SSC/Caltech)
et al.,
JPL,
Caltech,
NASA
(Inset: Digital Sky Survey)
Explanation:
High-speed outflows of molecular gas from a young stellar object
glow in infrared light, revealing themselves in this recent
false-color
image from the Spitzer Space Telescope.
Cataloged as
HH (Herbig-Haro) 46/47 the
infrared source is
lodged within a dark nebula or Bok globule - near the lower right
corner of the dark nebula in the optical inset -
that is largely opaque
when viewed in visible light.
The energetic outflow
features extend for nearly a light-year,
burrowing into the dark interstellar material, and
are
attributed to early stages in the life of a sun-like star.
They may well represent a phase of our own
Sun's evolution
which took place some 4.5 billion years ago, along with
the formation of our solar system from a
circumstellar disk.
A tantalizing
object to explore with
Spitzer's infrared
capabilities, this
young star
system is relatively nearby,
located only some 1,140 light-years distant in the nautical
constellation
Vela.
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Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Herbig-Haro object - bok globule - young stars
Publications with words: Herbig-Haro object - bok globule - young stars
See also: