A stunning image of a star being born 1,300 light-years from Earth captured by the James Webb Telescope

ArabiaWeather - The star, called HH212 , was discovered for the first time in 1993 near Orion's Belt. Scientists in the field of astronomy have worked over the past three decades to take pictures with the aim of revealing how the star was slowly formed.

Currently, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has captured a distinct image of the star during its birth stage. The protostar, known as HH12 , is located about 1,300 light-years from Earth , according to a report published by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), and scientists are excited; Because this image will provide new clues about the mechanism of star formation, and estimates indicate that the age of this star is about 50 thousand years .

Detecting the process of star formation in a disk of gas and dust

The image published by NASA does not show the star itself due to it being inside a disk of gas and dust. However, pink-red colored jets can be seen emanating from the star in two different directions.

Regarding how these phenomena are formed, Professor Mark Macogrian, Chief Scientific Advisor to European Space, pointed out that when the expanding ball of gas is compressed in the center, it begins to rotate, and if it rotates too quickly, it will fly apart. Therefore, excess angular momentum must be eliminated, The agency explained to the BBC that these phenomena are believed to represent jets and flows heading outward, and scientists believe that as the materials contract, the magnetic fields are attracted towards each other, and then some of the materials that pass through the disk are captured in these magnetic fields, and thrown through the poles. This is why these structures are also known as “dipole structures” .

Revealing the secrets of star formation and an exceptional image of the star

Regarding that image, Professor Macogrian stated that this color image is the first of its kind of the star, noting that it is not possible to obtain similar images using ground-based telescopes.

Scientists added that the image will also help them understand the process of the birth of the sun , and that it may be similar in shape. In a related context, the James Webb Space Telescope was launched two years ago, and is currently located more than a million miles away at the Lagrange 2 point. It is considered the successor to the Hubble Telescope, It offers stunning images of deep space captured using advanced technologies.

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Sources:

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