(C) NASA
This story was originally published by NASA and is unaltered.
 . . . . . . . . . .



NASA’s Webb Captures Celestial Fireworks Around Forming Star [1]

[]

Date: 2024-07 

Both NIRCam and MIRI show the effects of outflows, which are emitted in opposite directions along the protostar’s rotation axis as the object consumes gas and dust from the surrounding cloud. These outflows take the form of bow shocks to the surrounding molecular cloud, which appear as filamentary structures throughout. They are also responsible for carving the bright hourglass structure within the molecular cloud as they energize, or excite, the surrounding matter and cause the regions above and below it to glow. This creates an effect reminiscent of fireworks brightening a cloudy night sky. Unlike NIRCam, however, which mostly shows the light that is reflected off dust, MIRI provides a look into how these outflows affect the region’s thickest dust and gases.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasas-webb-captures-celestial-fireworks-around-forming-star/

Published and (C) by NASA
Content appears here under this condition or license: Public Domain.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/nasa/