The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have captured a striking column of gas and dust in the Carina Nebula. Its glowing red “eye” may be a young star still partially enclosed in a cocoon of material.
The small region is known as the Cat’s Head Nebula because its shape resembles a cat sitting with its back to the observer. It lies within the Carina Nebula, a diffuse star-forming region about 7,500 light-years away in the constellation Carina.
“Although the Cat’s Head Nebula is a temporary spectacle that will eventually dissipate as stars form and evolve over time, this region is packed with information,” Hubble and Webb team members said in a statement.
“The nebula’s characteristic cat-head shape is thought to have been formed over a long period of time by the intense ultraviolet light and winds from the Carina nebula’s massive stars.”
“As feedback from this star erodes the surrounding gas and dust, the dense material within the feline column resists erosion, at least for now.”
Different wavelengths reveal the nebula’s structure
In Hubble’s visible-light view, the column appears as an opaque mass of dark brown dust. “The cat’s glowing red eyes may indicate a young star that is still partially buried in dust,” the researchers said.
“There appears to be a faint yellow ridge running down the right end of the filament.” This bright edge is consistent with ionized gas being irradiated by ultraviolet radiation from nearby massive stars, potentially driving a process known as photoevaporation.
The diffuse material around the pillar glows blue and cyan near the top, changing to yellow, orange and red farther down. Webb’s near-infrared and mid-infrared observations reveal details that are not visible in the same way at optical wavelengths.
“Webb’s near-infrared and mid-infrared images each provide different information that helps us understand the Cat’s Head Nebula more comprehensively,” the researchers added.
“The overall structure of the nebula is similar to the visible-light image, but the filaments become more transparent and their intricate surface structure becomes discernible in near-infrared light.”
To the left of the cat-shaped column, Webb also reveals “a ghostly clump of dust and gas,” exposing delicate structures shaped by radiation from a nearby giant star.
Source: www.sci.news
