NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has captured a high-resolution image of Herbig-Haro 211 (HH211), a bipolar jet traveling through interstellar space at supersonic speeds. The object, about 1,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Perseus, is one of the youngest and closest protostellar outflows, making it an ideal target for Webb.
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has imaged the Herbig-Haro object HH211, revealing detailed outflows from a young protostar similar to the early Sun. High-resolution images suggest this may be a binary star system, and studies show the outflow consists mainly of intact molecules produced by low-energy shock waves. Source: AdrianaManriqueGutierrez
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has taken high-resolution, near-infrared observations of Herbig-Haro 211, revealing exquisite details of outflows from a young star that is an infant analog of our sun. Herbig-Haro objects form when stellar winds, or jets of gas from newborn stars, collide with nearby gas and dust at high speeds, creating shock waves. This image shows in unprecedented detail a series of bow-shaped shock waves in the southeast (lower left) and northwest (upper right) directions, as well as the narrow bipolar jets that power these shock waves. Molecules excited by turbulent conditions, including hydrogen molecules, carbon monoxide and silicon monoxide, emit infrared light that Webb collects, mapping the structure of the outflow. Image credit: ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, Tom Ray (Dublin)
Herbig-Haro (HH) objects are glowing regions around newborn stars that form shock waves when stellar winds or gas jets from these newborn stars collide with nearby gas and dust at high speeds. This image of HH211 taken by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope shows outflows from a Class 0 protostar, a young analogue of our sun that was only tens of thousands of years old and had only 8% the mass of today's sun. (It will eventually grow into a star like the Sun).
Infrared imaging and stellar material outflow
Infrared imaging is particularly useful for studying newborn stars and their outflows, because such stars always remain embedded in the gas of the molecular clouds from which they formed. Infrared radiation from stars can penetrate obscuring gas and dust, making Herbie-Haro objects like HH211 ideal for observation with Webb's sensitive infrared instruments. Molecules excited by turbulent conditions, including hydrogen molecules, carbon monoxide and silicon monoxide, emit infrared light that Webb can collect to map the structure of the outflow.
The image shows a series of bow-shaped shocks in the southeast (lower left) and northwest (upper right) directions, and the narrow bipolar jets that power them. The Webb telescope revealed the scene in unprecedented detail - with a spatial resolution roughly 5 to 10 times greater than any previous image of HH211. On either side of the central protostar, the inner jets can be seen "wiggling" in a mirror-symmetrical manner. This is consistent with observations on smaller scales and suggests that the protostar may actually be an unresolved binary star.
Early Observations and Research Results
Early observations of HH211 using ground-based telescopes found huge bow-shaped impacts moving away from us (northwest) and towards us (southeast), cavity-like structures in the impact hydrogen and carbon monoxide, and knotted and oscillating bipolar jets in silicon monoxide. The researchers used Webb's new observations to determine that the object's outflows were relatively slow compared to evolving protostars with similar outflow patterns.
The team measured the velocity of the innermost outflow structure at about 48-60 miles per second (80-100 kilometers per second). However, the speed difference between these outflow parts and the precursor material they collide with - the shock wave - is much smaller. The researchers concluded that outflows from the youngest stars, such as the one at the center of HH211, are mostly composed of molecules because the relatively low shock wave speeds are not fast enough to break the molecules into simpler atoms and ions.
The James Webb Space Telescope is the world's most important space science observatory. Webb is unraveling the mysteries of the solar system, peering into distant worlds around other stars, and exploring the mysterious structure and origins of the universe and our place in it. The Webb telescope is an international program led by NASA with partners including the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency.