Stars Shoot Jets in Cosmic Playground

Spitzer_ssc2013-05b_1024

spitzer_ssc2013-05b June 5th, 2013

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Wisconsin

Dozens of newborn stars sprouting jets from their dusty cocoons have been spotted in images from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. In this view showing a portion of sky near Canis Major, infrared data from Spitzer are green and blue, while longer-wavelength infrared light from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) are red.

The jets appear in green, while young stars are a yellow-orange hue. Some of the jets can be seen as streaks, while others appear as blobs because only portions of the jet can be seen. In some cases, the stars producing jets can't be seen while their jets can. Those stars are so embedded in their dusty cocoon that they are too faint to be seen at Spitzer's wavelengths.

This is a lesser-known region of star formation, located near the outer edge of our Milky Way galaxy. Spitzer is showing that even these more sparse regions of the galaxy are aglow with stellar youth.

The pink hues are from organic star-forming molecules called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Stars in the pink regions are a bit older than the rambunctious ones spewing jets, but still relatively young in cosmic terms.

In this image, Spitzer's 3.6- and 4.5-micron data are blue and green, respectively, while WISE's 12-micron data are red. The Spitzer data were taken as part of the mission's Galactic Legacy Infrared Mid-Plane Survey Extraordinaire 360, or Glimpse 360 project, which is pointing the Spitzer Space telescope away from the galactic center to complete a full 360-degree scan of the Milky Way plane.

WISE all-sky observations are boosting Spitzer's imaging capabilities by providing the longer-wavelength infrared coverage the mission lost when it ran out of coolant, as planned, in 2009.

Provider: Spitzer Space Telescope

Image Source: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/5596-ssc2013-05b-Stars-Shoot-Jets-in-Cosmic-Playground

Curator: Spitzer Space Telescope, Pasadena, CA, USA

Image Use Policy: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/info/18-Image-Use-Policy

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Subject - Milky Way
Nebula > Type > Jet
Nebula > Type > Star Formation
Star > Evolutionary Stage > Young Stellar Object
Spitzer_ssc2013-05b_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 7h 9m 30.3s
DEC = -10° 28’ 23.7”
Orientation
North is 62.5° CW
Field of View
60.0 x 60.0 arcminutes
Constellation
Monoceros

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Blue Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Near-IR) 3.6 µm
Green Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Near-IR) 4.5 µm
Red WISE Infrared (Mid-IR) 12.0 µm
Spectrum_ir1
Blue
Green
Red
Spitzer_ssc2013-05b_1280
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ID
ssc2013-05b
Subject Category
B.4.1.5   B.4.1.2   B.3.1.2  
Subject Name
Credits
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Wisconsin
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Spitzer, Spitzer, WISE
Instrument
IRAC, IRAC
Color Assignment
Blue, Green, Red
Band
Infrared, Infrared, Infrared
Bandpass
Near-IR, Near-IR, Mid-IR
Central Wavelength
3600, 4500, 12000
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
Reference Value
107.37642290, -10.47325851
Reference Dimension
3000, 3000
Reference Pixel
1500.5, 1860.5
Scale
-3.33333333000000e-04, 3.33333333000000e-04
Rotation
-62.537201
Coordinate System Projection:
CAR
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
Spitzer Space Telescope
URL
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu
Name
Email
Telephone
Address
1200 E. California Blvd.
City
Pasadena
State/Province
CA
Postal Code
91125
Country
USA
Rights
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/info/18-Image-Use-Policy
Publisher
Spitzer Science Center
Publisher ID
spitzer
Resource ID
ssc2013-05b.tif
Metadata Date
2013-06-05
Metadata Version
1.2
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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There is no distance meta data in this image.

 

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