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WEBB: Reveals New Features in Heart of Milky Way
Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2023 6:26 am
by AVAO
NASA's Webb Reveals New Features in Heart of Milky Way
STScI | NASA/ESA/CSA | 2023 Nov 20
"The full view of the James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) instrument reveals a 50 light-years-wide portion of the Milky Way’s dense center. An estimated 500,000 stars shine in this image of the Sagittarius C (Sgr C) region, along with some as-yet unidentified features.
A vast region of ionized hydrogen, shown in cyan, wraps around an infrared-dark cloud, which is so dense that it blocks the light from distant stars behind it. Intriguing needle-like structures in the ionized hydrogen emission lack any uniform orientation. Researchers note the surprising extent of the ionized region, covering about 25 light-years.
A cluster of protostars – stars that are still forming and gaining mass – are producing outflows that glow like a bonfire at the base of the large infrared-dark cloud, indicating that they are emerging from the cloud’s protective cocoon and will soon join the ranks of the more mature stars around them. Smaller infrared-dark clouds dot the scene, appearing like holes in the starfield. ..."
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TY4YA Jac
STScI: Webb Reveals New Features in Heart of Milky Way
NASA: Webb Reveals New Features in Heart of Milky Way
ESA: Webb Reveals New Features in Heart of Milky Way
Re: WEBB: Reveals New Features in Heart of Milky Way
Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2023 6:57 am
by AVAO
Re: WEBB: Reveals New Features in Heart of Milky Way
Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2023 5:23 pm
by Ann
Interesting, Jac! Thanks! I particularly appreciate the annotated image.
Ann
Re: WEBB: Reveals New Features in Heart of Milky Way
Posted: Thu Nov 23, 2023 8:56 pm
by AVAO
Ann wrote: ↑Tue Nov 21, 2023 5:23 pm
Interesting, Jac! Thanks! I particularly appreciate the annotated image.
Ann
"A cluster of protostars – stars that are still forming and gaining mass – are producing outflows
that glow like a bonfire at the base of the large infrared-dark cloud, indicating that they are emerging from the cloud’s protective cocoon and will soon join the ranks of the more mature stars around them."
ThanX Ann
For the needle-like structures, I would suppose fragments of pipolar jets from young stars. Seems to be an energetic area.
Jac
Original data: NASA/ESA (SST) NASA/ESA/CSA (JWST)
bigger...
Original data: NASA/ESA (SST) NASA/ESA/CSA (JWST)
Re: WEBB: Reveals New Features in Heart of Milky Way
Posted: Fri Nov 24, 2023 4:45 am
by Ann
AVAO wrote: ↑Thu Nov 23, 2023 8:56 pm
Ann wrote: ↑Tue Nov 21, 2023 5:23 pm
Interesting, Jac! Thanks! I particularly appreciate the annotated image.
Ann
"A cluster of protostars – stars that are still forming and gaining mass – are producing outflows
that glow like a bonfire at the base of the large infrared-dark cloud, indicating that they are emerging from the cloud’s protective cocoon and will soon join the ranks of the more mature stars around them."
ThanX Ann
For the needle-like structures, I would suppose fragments of pipolar jets from young stars. Seems to be an energetic area.
Jac
Original data: NASA/ESA (SST) NASA/ESA/CSA (JWST)
bigger...
Original data: NASA/ESA (SST) NASA/ESA/CSA (JWST)
Thanks, Jac!
Obviously conditions are extremely different near the hot, crowded and very energetic center of our galaxy compared with what they are much farther away from the center. Still, those needle-like structures don't look much like Herbig-Haro jets to me.
Even though the Herbig-Haro HH24 jet is very straight indeed, the surrounding gas is not "straight" at all. In the JWST Sagittarius C image, pretty much all we see is jets, if those straight features are jets.
But of course, it is possible that JWST just picked up the jets and not the surrounding gas, if the jets are a different temperature than the surrounding clouds.
Ann
Re: WEBB: Reveals New Features in Heart of Milky Way
Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2023 1:51 pm
by AVAO
Ann wrote: ↑Fri Nov 24, 2023 4:45 am
Even though the Herbig-Haro HH24 jet is very straight indeed, the surrounding gas is not "straight" at all. In the JWST Sagittarius C image, pretty much all we see is jets, if those straight features are jets.
But of course, it is possible that JWST just picked up the jets and not the surrounding gas, if the jets are a different temperature than the surrounding clouds.
Ann
ThanX Ann
... I was thinking more about NGC1333 when making my comparison ... Jac
