巨蛇中的原恒星外流
(原标题: Protostellar Outflows in Serpens)
2024-06-27
浏览次数: 24
这张詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜拍摄的巨蛇星云的特写照片捕捉到了新生恒星喷出的物质流。强大的原恒星外流是两极的，双喷流向相反的方向喷射。它们的方向垂直于在旋转、坍缩的恒星婴儿周围形成的吸积盘。在NIRcam的图像中，红色代表了喷流与周围气体和尘埃碰撞时产生的氢分子和一氧化碳的释放。这幅清晰的图像首次显示，在蛇状星云中探测到的单个流出物通常沿同一方向排列。这个结果是预料之中的，但直到现在，随着韦伯对活跃的年轻恒星形成区域的详细探索，这个结果才变得清晰起来。前景较亮的恒星表现出韦伯特有的衍射峰。据估计，蛇状星云的距离为1300光年，这张宇宙特写图像的直径约为1光年。
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Jets of material blasting from newborn stars, are captured in this James Webb Space Telescope close-up of the Serpens Nebula. The powerful protostellar outflows are bipolar, twin jets spewing in opposite directions. Their directions are perpendicular to accretion disks formed around the spinning, collapsing stellar infants. In the NIRcam image, the reddish color represents emission from molecular hydrogen and carbon monoxide produced as the jets collide with the surrounding gas and dust. The sharp image shows for the first time that individual outflows detected in the Serpens Nebula are generally aligned along the same direction. That result was expected, but has only now come into clear view with Webb's detailed exploration of the active young star-forming region. Brighter foreground stars exhibit Webb's characteristic diffraction spikes. At the Serpens Nebula's estimated distance of 1,300 light-years, this cosmic close-up frame is about 1 light-year across.