- Herbig-Haro 211 is located about 1,000 light-years away in the constellation Perseus
- The protostar provides a glimpse of what our Sun looked like when it was young
It might look like something from a galaxy far, far away.
But this dazzling image of a newborn star – with what appears to be a Star Wars-esque ‘lightsaber’ shooting out of it – actually has ties much closer to home.
That’s because it offers a glimpse of what our own sun looked like when it was very young.
Herbig-Haro 211 (HH 211) – located about 1,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Perseus – is not actually visible in the image taken by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.
However, astronomers know this to be true there because of the enormous streams of gas and dust flowing on either side of it, indicating that the star is growing.
Its mass is currently about eight percent as large as the Sun, but it is expected to eventually reach the same size over the next few million years.
From a galaxy far, far away: This spectacular image taken by the James Webb Space Telescope captures a newborn star with what appears to be a Star Wars-esque ‘lightsaber’ shooting out of it
The so-called bipolar jets shooting out of the baby star or protostar have been captured in unprecedented detail by Webb’s near-infrared camera, allowing extensive analysis showing that HH 211 is only a few thousand years old.
The images also helped reveal what exactly the gas jets are made of.
Researchers were surprised to find that they were mostly molecules – two or more atoms connected by a chemical bond – including carbon monoxide, silicon monoxide and molecular hydrogen.
They had expected them to be made up of individual atoms or ions, as is the case with similar bipolar jets, but think they have an explanation for why this discrepancy occurs.
The astronomers found that the flow of gas and dust from HH 211 is much slower than from other, more developed protostars.
This led them to the conclusion that there is not enough energy in HH 211’s jets to split the molecules into simpler atoms and ions.
Despite this, the experts said it is “currently a mystery” why the jets are slower than other bipolar jets.
“A very exciting discovery from this new image is that when a star forms, it emits extremely supersonic beams of matter that can extend for several light years,” said lead author of the study, Professor Tom Ray, from the Dublin Institute for Advanced. Studies.
“These beams resemble Star War lightsabers, shining with light from many different atoms and molecules.”
Professor Ray explained that new stars are often ‘enveloped in gas and dust’, making them difficult to see from Earth.
But with Webb’s help, he added, astronomers can use infrared light to penetrate here and reveal stellar births or stars like HH 211.
“Stars are not constant – they have a beginning and an end, just like the rest of us, but the process takes thousands of millions of years,” Professor Ray said.
Similar: Pictured is a lightsaber in the movie Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker, released in 2019
Hidden in plain sight: Herbig-Haro 211 (HH 211) – located about 1,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Perseus – isn’t actually visible in the image taken by Webb
‘By developing our understanding of how they are born, through breakthroughs like this, we deepen our knowledge of how our sun and solar system formed.
‘A very exciting discovery from this new image is that when a star forms, it emits highly supersonic beams of matter that can extend for several light years.’
He added: ‘The research shows that the very youngest stars appear to emit beams of almost pure molecules, contrary to what astronomers previously thought, and that they are moving very slowly.
‘How such beams are produced without the added ingredients of atoms and ions is currently a mystery.’
The new research has been published in the journal Nature.