To celebrate American Independence Day on July 4th, NASA has released an image captured by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) showcasing the intense explosion of a young star in vibrant red, white, and blue colors. The cosmic fireworks originate from the L1527 nebula, located 460 light-years away in the Taurus constellation.
Shaped like an hourglass or a butterfly, the image reveals a 100,000-year-old protostar roaring to life within a cloud of gas. Rotating in place, this star is consuming material from the surrounding edges while expelling it in large streams from both poles.
The primitive star inside the L1527 nebula captured by the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) of the James Webb Space Telescope. (Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI).
NASA stated: “The fiery hourglass marks the scene of a very young object in the process of becoming a star. A central protostar is developing at the neck of the hourglass, accumulating material from a thin protoplanetary disk, with a dark lane visible from the side.”
Stars can take tens of millions of years to form – developing from chaotic clouds of dust and gas into faint glowing protostars before evolving into massive plasma spheres created through nuclear fusion.
As stars begin to ignite, they release material in the form of winds and ionized plasma jets in a process known as stellar feedback.
The gas surrounding the newborn star is usually dark, but the outflow from the star creates shock waves in the gas, causing it to glow. The blue region indicates molecular carbon compounds known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
To capture this image, NASA utilized the powerful Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) of the James Webb Telescope. JWST also photographed the protostar in near-infrared wavelengths, with its outflow appearing in an orange hue reminiscent of a stunning cosmic sunset.
