A new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows two protostars in the Orion Nebula, a diffuse nebula located about 1,350 light-years away in the constellation Orion.
This Hubble image shows two protostars, HOPS 150 and HOPS 153, within the famous Orion Nebula. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / T. Megeath.
The Orion Nebula is visible to the naked eye as a fuzzy speck surrounding the Hunter's Sword star Theta Orionis, below Orion's belt.
This nebula has been known as a star since the beginning of astronomical records, but it is so remarkable that it was first recognized as an expanded nebula in 1610, just one year after Galileo Galilei first used a telescope. It got attention.
Detailed descriptions of the Orion Nebula began to appear in the late 17th century, and it has been a popular target for anyone with a telescope ever since.
Also known as NGC 1976, Messier 42, M42, LBN 974, and Sharpless 281, this nebula is about 24 light-years long.
Only two million years old, this object is an ideal laboratory for studying young and nascent stars.
It offers a glimpse of what happened when the sun was born 4.6 billion years ago.
“The Orion Nebula is home to hundreds of newborn stars, including the protostars HOPS 150 and HOPS 153, the subject of this image,” Hubble astronomers said in a statement.
“The names of these protostars come from the Herschel Orion Protostar Survey, conducted in collaboration with ESA's Herschel Space Observatory.”
“The object visible in the upper right corner of this image is HOPS 150. It is a binary star system, with two young protostars orbiting each other.”
“Each animal has a small dusty disk around it from which it gets its nutrition.”
“A dark line across the bright glow of these protostars is a cloud of gas and dust more than 2,000 times wider than the distance between Earth and the Sun that dips into the pair of protostars.”
“Based on the amount of infrared light emitted by HOPS 150 and the light at other wavelengths, we can see that the protostar is on its way to becoming a mature star.”
“Extending to the left of the image is a narrow, colorful outflow called a jet. This jet comes out of frame from the nearby protostar HOPS 153,” they said.
“HOPS 153 is a much younger object than its neighbors, still deeply embedded in its birth nebula and shrouded in a cold, dense cloud of gas.”
“Hubble can't penetrate this gas to see protostars, but the jets released by HOPS 153 appear bright as they plow into the gas and dust surrounding the Orion nebula.”
“The transition from a tightly wrapped protostar to a full-fledged star will have a dramatic impact on the surroundings of HOPS 153.”
“When gas falls into a protostar, its jets spew matter and energy into interstellar space, creating bubbles and heating the gas.”
“By stirring up and warming nearby gas, HOPS 153 may control the formation of new stars in its vicinity and even slow its own growth.”
Source: www.sci.news
