NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has captured an extraordinary image of a young stellar object in the star-forming region NGC 1333. The stunning picture reveals a multitude of stars and nebulae, each with its unique characteristics and story to tell.
At the heart of this cosmic tapestry is an actively forming star called a protostar, which casts its glow on the surrounding gas and dust, creating a reflection nebula. Two dark stripes on either side of the bright point represent the protoplanetary disk, where planets could potentially form, and the shadow cast across the large envelope of material around the star. Researchers are still unsure about what happens to the shadow as it meets the disk.
On the opposite side of the image, an outflow cavity reveals a fan-shaped reflection nebula. Two stars at its base, HBC 340 and HBC 341, unleash stellar winds that clear out the cavity from the surrounding molecular cloud over time. The fluctuation in brightness of these stars is thought to be due to variations in their brightness.
The four beaming stars near the bottom of the image and one in the top right corner are also Orion variable stars, a class of forming stars that change in brightness irregularly and unpredictably. The rest of the cloudscape is dotted with other young stellar objects.
NGC 1333 lies about 950 light-years away in the Perseus molecular cloud. Hubble images were used to study young stellar objects such as properties of circumstellar disks and outflows in the gas and dust created by these stars.
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope continues to capture breathtaking images that provide insights into the universe, its mysteries, and its vast array of celestial wonders.
At the heart of this cosmic tapestry is an actively forming star called a protostar, which casts its glow on the surrounding gas and dust, creating a reflection nebula. Two dark stripes on either side of the bright point represent the protoplanetary disk, where planets could potentially form, and the shadow cast across the large envelope of material around the star. Researchers are still unsure about what happens to the shadow as it meets the disk.
On the opposite side of the image, an outflow cavity reveals a fan-shaped reflection nebula. Two stars at its base, HBC 340 and HBC 341, unleash stellar winds that clear out the cavity from the surrounding molecular cloud over time. The fluctuation in brightness of these stars is thought to be due to variations in their brightness.
The four beaming stars near the bottom of the image and one in the top right corner are also Orion variable stars, a class of forming stars that change in brightness irregularly and unpredictably. The rest of the cloudscape is dotted with other young stellar objects.
NGC 1333 lies about 950 light-years away in the Perseus molecular cloud. Hubble images were used to study young stellar objects such as properties of circumstellar disks and outflows in the gas and dust created by these stars.
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope continues to capture breathtaking images that provide insights into the universe, its mysteries, and its vast array of celestial wonders.