韦伯看到了气态小恒星

In this image of the Serpens Nebula from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers found a grouping of aligned protostellar outflows within one small region (the top left corner). Serpens is a reflection nebula, which means it’s a cloud of gas and dust that does not create its own light, but instead shines by reflecting the light from stars close to or within the nebula.
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Klaus Pontoppidan (NASA-JPL), Joel Green (STScI)

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured a phenomenon for the very first time. The bright red streaks at top left of this June 20, 2024, image are aligned protostar outflows – jets of gas from newborn stars that all slant in the same direction.

This image supports astronomers’ assumption that as clouds collapse to form stars, the stars will tend to spin in the same direction. Previously, the objects appeared as blobs or were invisible in optical wavelengths. Webb’s sensitive infrared vision was able to pierce through the thick dust, resolving the stars and their outflows.

Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Klaus Pontoppidan (NASA-JPL), Joel Green (STScI)

在这张NASA詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜拍摄的巨蛇座星云图像中，天文学家在一个小区域（左上角）发现了一组排列整齐的原恒星外流。巨蛇座星云是一个反射星云，这意味着它是一个由气体和尘埃组成的云团，自身并不发光，而是通过反射星云附近或星云内部恒星的光来发光。
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Klaus Pontoppidan (NASA-JPL), Joel Green (STScI)

NASA的詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜首次捕捉到一种现象。在这张摄于2024年6月20日的照片中，左上角的亮红色条纹是排列整齐的原恒星外流——来自新生恒星的气体喷流，它们都向同一个方向倾斜。

这张照片支持了天文学家的假设，即当云团坍缩形成恒星时，恒星将倾向于沿同一方向旋转。之前，这些物体在可见光波长下表现为斑点或不可见。韦伯望远镜敏锐的红外视野能够穿透厚厚的尘埃，分辨出恒星及其喷流。

图片来源：NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Klaus Pontoppidan (NASA-JPL), Joel Green (STScI)