Hubble imaged a little area of the Running Man Nebula, which lies close to the well known Orion Nebula and is a preferred target for amateur astronomers to observe and photograph. Credit: NASA, ESA, J. Bally (University of Colorado at Boulder), and DSS; Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America).
NGC 1977 belongs to a trio of reflection nebulae that comprise the Running Man Nebula in the constellation Orion.
Hubble recorded a brilliant jet from a recently forming star in this picture of the Running Man Nebula (NGC 1977). Credit: NASA, ESA, and J. Bally (University of Colorado at Boulder); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America).
A jet from a recently formed star flares into the shining depths of reflection nebula NGC 1977 in this Hubble image. The jet (the orange item at the bottom center of the image) is being released by the young star Parengo 2042, which is embedded in a disk of debris that could give increase to planets. The star powers a pulsing jet of plasma that stretches over 2 light-years (11,757,250,740,000 miles) through space, flexing to the north in this image.
Detail view from image above: a closer view of the jet. Credit: NASA, ESA, and J. Bally (University of Colorado at Boulder); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America).
In this image, orange and red colors show the jet and glowing gas of related shocks. The radiant blue ripples that appear to be streaming far from the jet to the right of the image are bow shocks facing the star 42 Orionis (disappointed). Bow shocks take place in area when streams of gas collide, and are named after the crescent-shaped waves made by a ship as it moves through water.
The brilliant western lobe of the jet is cocooned in a series of orange arcs that reduce in size with increasing range from the star, forming a cone or spindle shape. These arcs may trace the ionized external rim of a disk of debris around the star with a radius of 500 times the range in between the Sun and Earth and a large (170 astronomical systems) hole in the center of the disk. The spindle-like shape may trace the surface area of an outflow of product far from the disk and is estimated to be losing the mass of roughly a hundred-million Suns every year.
A jet from a recently formed star flares into the shining depths of reflection nebula NGC 1977 in this Hubble image. The jet (the orange item at the bottom center of the image) is being discharged by the young star Parengo 2042, which is embedded in a disk of particles that could give increase to worlds. The radiant blue ripples that seem to be flowing away from the jet to the right of the image are bow shocks dealing with the star 42 Orionis (not shown).