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LRLL 54361 Light Echo – Hubble

This sequence of images from the Hubble Space Telescope shows a pulse of light emanating from the protostellar object LRLL 54361. Most if not all of this light results from scattering off circumstellar dust in the protostellar envelope.

An apparent edge-on disk visible at the center of the object and three separate structures are interpreted as outflow cavities. The extent and shape of the scattered light changes substantially over a 25.34-day period.

This is caused by the propagation of the light pulse through the nebula. Astronomers propose that the flashes are due to material in a circumstellar disk suddenly being dumped onto a binary pair of forming stars. This unleashes a blast of radiation each time the stars get close to each other in their orbit.

These false color, near-infrared-light photos are from Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3.

About the Object

R.A. Position
R.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
03h 43m 50.99s
Dec. Position
Dec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
32° 2' 48.0"
Constellation
ConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
Perseus
Distance
DistanceThe 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.
950 light-years (290 parsecs)

About the Data

Data Description
Data 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 image was created from Hubble data from proposal 12284: J. Muzerolle (PI; STScI) and collaborators. The science team comprises: J. Muzerolle (STScI), E. Furlan (NOAO and Caltech), K. Flaherty (Steward Obervatory), Z. Balog (Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg), and R. Gutermuth (University of Massachusetts, Amherst).
Instrument
InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
HST>WFC3/IR
Exposure Dates
Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
December 3 - 26, 2010
Filters
FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
F160W (H)

Object Name
Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
LRLL 54361, L54361
Object Description
Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
Protostar
Release Date
February 7, 2013
Science Release
Strobe-Like Flashes Discovered in a Suspected Binary Protostar
Read the release
Credit
NASA, ESA, J. Muzerolle (STScI), E. Furlan (NOAO and Caltech), K. Flaherty (University of Arizona/Steward Observatory), Z. Balog (Max Planck Institute for Astronomy), and R. Gutermuth (University of Massachusetts, Amherst)

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The Hubble images were originally black and white and recorded only overall brightness. These brightness values were translated into a range of reddish hues. Such color "maps" can be useful in helping to distinguish subtly varying brightness in an image.

Related Images & Videos

Protostar LRLL 54361

NASA's Spitzer and Hubble space telescopes have teamed up to uncover a mysterious infant star that behaves like a police strobe light. [Left] – This is a false-color, infrared-light Spitzer image of LRLL 54361 inside the star-forming region IC 348 located 950 light-years away....

Star-forming Region IC 348 Around Protostar LRLL 54361 – Spitzer

Protostar LRLL 54361 Light Echo – Hubble

Artist's Impression of Pulsating Object LRLL 54361

This is an artist's impression of two young binary stars that may be the source of mysterious clock-like bursts of light from an object called LRLL 54361 that lies inside the star-forming region IC 348, located 950 light-years away. Astronomers propose that the flashes are due...