A brand-new star is born, and it has an amazing form! A stunning new image released by NASA scientists depicts what looks to be an hourglass on fire.
A brilliant protostar that had emerged from the opaque cloud L1527 was seen by the James Webb Space Telescope. By tracking the formation of stars, astronomers can learn more about the early life of our Sun and solar system.
A black line going through the center of the star may be seen, even if the star itself is hidden from view in the hourglass’ “neck.” The star’s light is dissipating, revealing the nearby gas and dust. James Webb used their near-infrared camera to successfully capture this uncommon image.
The voids formed as material expelled from the protostar interacted with the surroundings account for the orange-blue colors shown in the image.
“As the material is ejected out from the protostar, shock-damaged molecular hydrogen filaments are also visible in Webb’s images. New stars wouldn’t develop in the cloud unless there were shocks and turbulence, which prevent them from doing so. As a result, the protostar dominates the area and hoards most of the material “A NASA statement read.
The colors were brought on by the layers of dust that accumulated between the clouds and the telescope. The thinnest dust layers have a blue tinge to them. There are areas of orange light because less blue light can escape as the dust builds up.
While 100,000 years may seem like a long period to us, to stars it is simply a young age. Due to its age and the brightness of the far-infrared radiation it produces, it is a class 0 protostar, which is the earliest stage of a star. L1527 has a long way to go before it completely matures into a “grown-up” star.
For instance, L1527 still has a significant cloud of gas and dust surrounding it, so it cannot generate its energy through nuclear fusion. Energy needs to be created to reach its full potential as a star. Also, it is quite unstable. The star is a small, hot, puffy ball of gas that accounts for 20–40% of the mass of all the stars in our solar system.
Although this nascent star cannot yet create its energy, it is moving closer to doing so as it gains mass.
With more mass, the core eventually contracts to a point where nuclear fusion would be feasible.
The thick spiral disc that develops around the center when material enters the system is referred to as the “accretion disc.” The accretion disc provides the young star with material to aid in its expansion. Because of all the accumulated mass and compression, the core temperature will ultimately rise to the point where nuclear fusion is feasible.
The disc in the image might look small at first glance, but scientists consider it to be the size of our solar system.
