![Request for Information – Potential [Placeholder for Prize]](https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/psd/solar/2023/09/s/solarsystem_0.jpg?w=1024)
APOD
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
HH 211: Jets from a Forming Star
Explanation: Do stars always create jets as they form? No one is sure. As a gas cloud gravitationally contracts , it forms a disk that can spin too fast to continue contracting into a protostar . Theorists hypothesize that this spin can be reduced by expelling jets. This speculation coincides with known Herbig-Haro (HH) objects , young stellar objects seen to emit jets -- sometimes in spectacular fashion . Pictured is Herbig-Haro 211, a young star in formation recently imaged by the Webb Space Telescope (JWST) in infrared light and in great detail . Along with the two narrow beams of particles , red shock waves can be seen as the outflows impact existing interstellar gas . The jets of HH 211 will likely change shape as they brighten and fade over the next 100,000 years, as research into the details of star formation continues.
| Date | September 19, 2023 |
|---|---|
| Credit | Credit: NASA , ESA , CSA , Webb ; Processing: Tom Ray ( DIAS Dublin ) |
| Authors & editors: | Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) |
| A service of: |
ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. |