Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, K. Pontoppidan/JPL Image processing: A. Pagan (STScI)

This image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope shows a portion of the Serpens Nebula, where astronomers discovered a grouping of aligned protostellar outflows. These jets are signified by bright clumpy streaks that appear red, which are shock waves from the jet hitting surrounding gas and dust. Here, the red color represents the presence of molecular hydrogen and carbon monoxide.

Typically these objects have varied orientations within one region. Here, however, they are slanted in the same direction, to the same degree, like sleet pouring down during a storm. Researchers say the discovery of these aligned objects, made possible due to Webb’s exquisite spatial resolution and sensitivity in near-infrared wavelengths, is providing information into the fundamentals of how stars are born.

Provider: Space Telescope Science Institute

Image Source: https://webbtelescope.org/contents/news-releases/2024/news-2024-115

Curator: STScI, Baltimore, MD, USA

Image Use Policy: https://www.stsci.edu/copyright