L1527的原恒星

2022年11月18日

The Protostar within L1527
Image Credit: Science – NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, NIRCam
Processing – Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Anton M. Koekemoer (STScI), Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

Explanation: The protostar within dark cloud L1527 is a mere 100,000 years old, still embedded in the cloud of gas and dust that feeds its growth. In this NIRCam image from the James Webb Space Telescope, the dark band at the neck of the infrared nebula is a thick disk that surrounds the young stellar object. Viewed nearly edge-on and a little larger than our Solar System, the disk ultimately supplies material to the protostar while hiding it from Webb’s direct infrared view. The nebula itself is seen in stunning detail though. Illuminated by infrared light from the protostar, the hourglass-shaped nebula’s cavities are created as material ejected in the star-forming process plows through the surrounding medium. As the protostar gains mass it will eventually become a full-fledged star, collapsing and igniting nuclear fusion in its core. A likely analog to our own Sun and Solar System in their early infancy, the protostar within dark cloud L1527 lies some 460 light-years distant in the Taurus star-forming region. Webb’s NIRCam image spans about 0.3 light-years.

Tomorrow’s picture: moonshot

L1527的原恒星
图像提供: 科学– NASA，ESA，CSA，STScI，NIRCam
图像处理– Joseph DePasquale（STScI），Anton M. Koekemoer（STScI），Alyssa Pagan（STScI）

说明: 暗星云L1527里的原恒星只有10万年稚龄，仍然包裹在为其成长提供物质的气体和尘埃云之内。在这幅韦伯太空望远镜的近红外光相机图像里，红外光波段所见的星云颈部之暗带，是环拱在这个年轻天体周围的厚实拱星盘。这个几乎侧向、略大于我们太阳系的拱星盘，除了为原恒星供应物质之外，也让韦伯的红外视线无法直接看到它。不过，其中可见的星云细微结构引人赞叹。在原恒星的红外光之照耀下，沙漏状星云内的空腔，是恒星在形成过程中喷出的物质穿过周围介质所致。随着原恒星的质量增加，其核心会持续塌缩，最终将点燃核融合成为一颗如假包换的恒星。距离金牛恒星形成区约460光年远的暗星云L1527，其内的原恒星可能酷似形成初期的太阳系及太阳。这张韦伯的近红外光相机图像之跨幅约为0.3光年。

明日的图片: moonshot