Starship Asterisk*

The Protostar within L1527

Explanation: The protostar within dark cloud L1527 is a mere 100,000 years old, still embedded in the cloud of gas and dust that feeds its growth. In this NIRCam image from the James Webb Space Telescope, the dark band at the neck of the infrared nebula is a thick disk that surrounds the young stellar object. Viewed nearly edge-on and a little larger than our Solar System, the disk ultimately supplies material to the protostar while hiding it from Webb's direct infrared view. The nebula itself is seen in stunning detail though. Illuminated by infrared light from the protostar, the hourglass-shaped nebula's cavities are created as material ejected in the star-forming process plows through the surrounding medium. As the protostar gains mass it will eventually become a full-fledged star, collapsing and igniting nuclear fusion in its core. A likely analog to our own Sun and Solar System in their early infancy, the protostar within dark cloud L1527 lies some 460 light-years distant in the Taurus star-forming region. Webb's NIRCam image spans about 0.3 light-years.

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Huh? I'm confused. I thought we see such (planetary nebulae) when the star explodes and material is ejected out.. Here, it seems reverse (the material will be sucked in to form a star) ? Oh well..

APOD Robot wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 5:05 am The Protostar within L1527

original picture sources & copyrights: https://www.astrobin.com/dg54ro &
NASA ESA (ALLWISE color)

watch this zoom in video too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCNVBykGB1s&t=59s

Does anyone know if they are planning on making a time lapse of the protostar and the surrounding nebula? It would be very cool to see the dust orbiting and/or being blasted out of the system.

shaileshs wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 5:30 am Huh? I'm confused. I thought we see such (planetary nebulae) when the star explodes and material is ejected out.. Here, it seems reverse (the material will be sucked in to form a star) ? Oh well..

This is how it works. What is happening when a protostar accretes mass and ejects matter perpendicular to the accretion disk is somewhat similar to what goes on when a black hole accretes matter onto its accretion disk and launches jets.

Ann

AVAO wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 5:56 am
original picture sources & copyrights: https://www.astrobin.com/dg54ro &
NASA ESA (ALLWISE color)

watch this zoom in video too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCNVBykGB1s&t=59s

Thanks for providing the context, I was wondering where this spectacular protostar resides.

shaileshs wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 5:30 am Huh? I'm confused. I thought we see such (planetary nebulae) when the star explodes and material is ejected out.. Here, it seems reverse (the material will be sucked in to form a star) ? Oh well..

Ya! I too thought; when I saw the Butterfly; maybe we were going to
learn about a Nova! This; however, turned out to be more exciting!
I hope it turns out to be an Sol sized sun! with Earth sized
planets! But it has 100.000's of years of development to go!

Ann wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 6:48 am

shaileshs wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 5:30 am Huh? I'm confused. I thought we see such (planetary nebulae) when the star explodes and material is ejected out.. Here, it seems reverse (the material will be sucked in to form a star) ? Oh well..

Artist's impression of a hyperluminous quasar surrounded by a thick accretion disk with two powerful jets

---

APOD 18 November 2022.png

This is how it works. What is happening when a protostar accretes mass and ejects matter perpendicular to the accretion disk is somewhat similar to what goes on when a black hole accretes matter onto its accretion disk and launches jets.

Ann

why there are two cones of hot outflows along the spin axis is clear: it's cones of magnetic field generated by the orbital electric current in the disk.
But why those magnetic field cones have linear walls at one side of the axis and convex walls at the other side of the axis

VictorBorun wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 6:17 pm

Ann wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 6:48 am

shaileshs wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 5:30 am Huh? I'm confused. I thought we see such (planetary nebulae) when the star explodes and material is ejected out.. Here, it seems reverse (the material will be sucked in to form a star) ? Oh well..

Artist's impression of a hyperluminous quasar surrounded by a thick accretion disk with two powerful jets

---

APOD 18 November 2022.png

This is how it works. What is happening when a protostar accretes mass and ejects matter perpendicular to the accretion disk is somewhat similar to what goes on when a black hole accretes matter onto its accretion disk and launches jets.

Ann

why there are two cones of hot outflows along the spin axis is clear: it's cones of magnetic field generated by the orbital electric current in the disk.
But why those magnetic field cones have linear walls at one side of the axis and convex walls at the other side of the axis
L1527 and Protostar -2.jpg

I don't think the shape of the flows are related to any magnetic fields generated in the disk.

the radio waves astronomy gets better resolution of the bright part, i. e. the disk

Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 6:19 pm

VictorBorun wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 6:17 pm

Ann wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 6:48 am

Artist's impression of a hyperluminous quasar surrounded by a thick accretion disk with two powerful jets

---

APOD 18 November 2022.png

This is how it works. What is happening when a protostar accretes mass and ejects matter perpendicular to the accretion disk is somewhat similar to what goes on when a black hole accretes matter onto its accretion disk and launches jets.

Ann

why there are two cones of hot outflows along the spin axis is clear: it's cones of magnetic field generated by the orbital electric current in the disk.
But why those magnetic field cones have linear walls at one side of the axis and convex walls at the other side of the axis
L1527 and Protostar -2.jpg

I don't think the shape of the flows are related to any magnetic fields generated in the disk.

sorry, it's not clear. But they say something magnetic is at play:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accretion ... s_and_jets

By the way, it's orbital electric current in the disk, not magnetic field in the disk, that helps to explain magnetic cones around the spin axis

VictorBorun wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 6:50 pm

Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 6:19 pm

VictorBorun wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 6:17 pm

why there are two cones of hot outflows along the spin axis is clear: it's cones of magnetic field generated by the orbital electric current in the disk.
But why those magnetic field cones have linear walls at one side of the axis and convex walls at the other side of the axis
L1527 and Protostar -2.jpg

I don't think the shape of the flows are related to any magnetic fields generated in the disk.

sorry, it's not clear. But they say something magnetic is at play:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accretion ... s_and_jets

By the way, it's orbital electric current in the disk, not magnetic field in the disk, that helps to explain magnetic cones around the spin axis

Electric and magnetic fields are responsible for the ejection. But I don't think they have much to do with the shape of the structures.

VictorBorun wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 6:17 pm ..
But why those magnetic field cones have linear walls at one side of the axis and convex walls at the other side of the axis

I believe the cone shape is generated from the rotation of the bipolar jets. This principle seems to be very similar for both - forming and "dying" stars. The jets are at the poles of the so-called protostar. Hypothesis: I.e. the inner spaces of the two cones are illuminated from the equatorial planes of the protostar, like a spotlight. The visible bright wisps of filament in it originate from smaller protostar-fragments around the central protostar moving in different directions (show dust tails). This is the reason why the tails partly point in the direction of the protostar and partly in the opposite direction. However, this phenomenon is much more visible in L1527 than in NGC 6302 (butterfly nebula). At NGC 6302, the radiation pressure is higher, so that the surrounding filament structures of the protostar- fragments are pressed into finger-like structures.

Credit:NASA/ESA HST/JWST
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/525 ... 6280_o.jpg
https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... d_NGC_6302
jac berne (flickr)

shaileshs wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 5:30 am Huh? I'm confused. I thought we see such (planetary nebulae) when the star explodes and material is ejected out.. Here, it seems reverse (the material will be sucked in to form a star) ? Oh well..

This isn't a planetary nebula! A true PN is formed at the end of a star's life, not the beginning. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_nebula. This nebula is just a bunch of gas and dust surrounding a still-forming protostar. At least, that's how I understand it.

AVAO wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 9:31 pm I believe the cone shape is generated from the rotation of the bipolar jets. This principle seems to be very similar for both - forming and "dying" stars. The jets are at the poles of the "so-called" protostar. I.e. the inner spaces of the two cones are illuminated from the equatorial planes of the protostar, like a spotlight. The visible bright wisps of filament in it originate from smaller protostar-fragments around the central protostar moving in different directions (show dust tails). This is the reason why the tails partly point in the direction of the protostar and partly in the opposite direction. However, this phenomenon is much more visible in L1527 than in NGC 6302 (butterfly nebula). At NGC 6302, the radiation pressure is higher, so that the surrounding filament structures of the protostar- fragments are pressed into finger-like structures.

Click to view full size image 1 or image 2

Credit:NASA/ESA HST/JWST
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/525 ... 6280_o.jpg
https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... d_NGC_6302
jac berne (flickr)

well, the radio astronomy do see some companion(s) of the L1527 central protostar

That can explain the cones as the result of the precession of the spin of the source of two thin jets or as the result of the pressure between two or more bubbles of the proto-stellar sources… maybe

but other models are happy without multiple proto-bodies
(sorry, you have to abuse your neck and turn your head by 90°)

FLPhotoCatcher wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 6:39 am Does anyone know if they are planning on making a time lapse of the protostar and the surrounding nebula? It would be very cool to see the dust orbiting and/or being blasted out of the system.

past timelapses were interesting, in Spitzer's IR Channels 3.6 and 4.5 μm
They made 2004/2005 change picture, the lighter pixels showing the rise and the darker pixels showing the fall of emission


This APOD shows the same near IR:
██ 2.0 μm wide
██ 3.35 μm medium [poly-aromatic hydrocarbons]
██ 4.70 μm narrow [molecular hydrogen]
██ 4.44 μm wide