May 6, 2024

Hubble Captures a Breathtaking Light Show From a Powerful Protostellar Jet

The Hubble Space Telescope recorded this magnificent image of G35.2-0.7 N, a region understood for its high-mass star development. Located roughly 7200 light-years from Earth in the Aquila constellation, this area homes at least one B-type star.
This spectacular image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows a region called G35.2-0.7 N, which is called a hotbed of high-mass star formation. The kind of stars that form here are so massive that they will end their lives as harmful supernovae. Even as they form they greatly affect their environments. At least one B-type star– the second most massive type– prowls within the area visualized here, and a powerful protostellar jet that it is releasing towards us is the source of the amazing light program.
Taken with the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3), which is mounted on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, this image catches the area G35.2-0.7 N which lies around 7200 light-years from Earth in the constellation Aquila.
This lovely photo was assembled using data that were collected mainly for very particular research study purposes, as are a number of the Hubble Pictures of the Week. The research study carried out using these data included measuring the level of ionization in the jets being blasted out of the protostar buried within G35.2-0.7 N. Ionization is a process by which atoms or particles end up being charged, frequently since they remain in such a high-energy environment that they have actually lost some of their electrons (the tiny negatively charged particles that orbit nuclei in atoms and molecules).

The Hubble Space Telescope recorded this amazing image of G35.2-0.7 N, an area understood for its high-mass star development. At least one B-type star– the 2nd most huge type– hides within the area imagined here, and a powerful protostellar jet that it is launching towards us is the source of the amazing light show.
Near the very center can be seen the location of the star and the jet of material it is discharging.

Protostellar jets are enormous collimated beams of matter that are ejected from protostars. Collimated merely suggests that the matter is ejected in parallel (column-like) streams, which in turn indicates that the jets do not spread out much, but extend out extremely far in relatively straight lines.
The visual result of the ejected matter is the marvelous display visible in this image. Much of the nebula is dark, with light being obstructed from Hubbles view by the rich dust clouds that produce these massive stars.
Near the very center can be seen the place of the star and the jet of product it is producing. By breaking through its dusty cocoon, the jet exposes light from the protostar, but there is still so much dust that the light is “reddened” to an intense orange.