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Clean Image Infant Stars in Orion
These four images taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope reveal the chaotic birth of stars in the Orion complex, the nearest major star-forming region to Earth.
The snapshots show fledgling stars buried in dusty gaseous cocoons announcing their births by unleashing powerful winds, as well as pairs of spinning, lawn-sprinkler-style jets shooting off in opposite directions. Near-infrared light pierces the dusty region to unveil details of the birthing process.
The stellar outflows are carving out cavities within the gas cloud, composed of hydrogen gas. This relatively brief birthing stage lasts about 500,000 years.
Although the stars themselves are shrouded in dust, they emit powerful radiation, which strikes the cavity walls and scatters off dust grains, illuminating in infrared light the gaps in the gaseous envelopes. Astronomers found that the cavities in the surrounding gas cloud sculpted by a forming star’s outflow did not grow regularly as they matured, as theories propose.
The young stars in these images are just a subset of an ambitious study of 304 developing stars, the largest-ever to date. Researchers used data previously collected from NASA's Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes and the European Space Agency's Herschel Space Telescope.
The protostars were photographed in near-infrared light by Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3. The images were taken Nov. 14, 2009, and Jan. 25, Feb. 11, and Aug. 11, 2010.
About the Object
- R.A. PositionR.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.05:35:17
- Dec. PositionDec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.-05:23:28
- ConstellationConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.Orion
- DistanceDistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.1,344 light-years
About the Data
- Data DescriptionData DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.The HST observations include those from program 11548 (T. Megeath).
- InstrumentInstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.WFC3/IR
- Exposure DatesExposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.14 Nov 2009; 25 Jan, 10 Feb, 11 Aug, 2010
- FiltersFiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.F160W
- Object NameObject NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.Star formation in Orion Nebula
- Object DescriptionObject DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.Outflows from infant stars
- Release DateMarch 18, 2021
- Science ReleaseHubble Shows Torrential Outflows from Infant Stars May Not Stop Them from Growing
- CreditsNASA, ESA, STScI, Nolan Habel (UToledo), Tom Megeath (UToledo)
These images are a composite of separate exposures acquired by the WFC3/IR instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope. The color results from assigning an orange hue to the monochromatic (grayscale) image.
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Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
