These protostellar outflows form when jets of gas from the newborn star collide with nearby gas and dust at high speeds, and the objects typically point in different directions within a single region. Serpens NebulaBut like sleet falling during a storm, they all lean in the same direction and to the same degree.
This Webb image shows a collection of outflows from a line of protostars in one small region (upper left corner) of the Ophiuchus Nebula. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / K. Pontoppidan, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory / J. Green, Space Telescope Science Institute.
“So how does the alignment of a stellar jets relate to the star's rotation?” said Webb.
“When interstellar gas clouds collapse to form stars, they rotate faster.”
“The only way for the gas to keep moving inward is to remove some of its spin (called angular momentum).”
“A disk of material forms around the young star, carrying material downward like a vortex around a drain.”
“The swirling magnetic fields within the inner disk cause some of the material to be ejected as twin jets, erupting outward in opposite directions, perpendicular to the disk of material.”
“In Webb's images, these jets are identified by bright red lumpy streaks, which are shock waves created when the jets collide with the surrounding gas and dust.”
“Here, the red color indicates the presence of molecular hydrogen and carbon monoxide.”
“Webb will be able to image these very young stars and their outflows, which have previously been blocked at visible wavelengths of light.”
“There are several forces that can change the direction of the outflow during this period in the young star's life.”
“One way is that the binary stars rotate around each other, causing them to wobble, twisting the direction of the outflow over time.”
The Serpens Nebula is a so-called reflection nebula located about 1,300 light-years away in the constellation Serpens.
The object is estimated to be between 1 and 2 million years old, making it very young in cosmic terms.
“The Serpens Nebula contains a particularly dense cluster of protostellar clusters (approximately 100,000 years old) at the center of this image, some of which will eventually grow to the mass of the Sun,” the astronomers said.
“It's a reflection nebula, meaning it's a cloud of gas and dust that doesn't emit its own light but glows by reflecting light from nearby and internal stars.”
“Thus, throughout the field of this image, the filaments and lint of different hues represent reflected light from protostars still forming within the cloud.”
“In some areas there is dust in front of that reflection, which shows up here as a diffuse shade of orange.”
“There have been several other serendipitous discoveries in the region, including the shadow of a flapping bat, so named because 2020 data from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope revealed it to be flapping, or migrating. This feature is visible in the centre of the Webb image.”
of Investigation result Published in Astrophysical Journal.
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Joel D. Green others2024. Why are (almost) all of the protostar outflows aligned with Serpens Main? ApJin press.
Source: www.sci.news
