Stellar Nursery Sharpless 140

Spitzer_ssc2004-07a1_1024

spitzer_ssc2004-07a1 May 11th, 2004

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/G. Melnick (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA)

In the quest to better understand the birth of stars and the formation of new worlds, astronomers have used NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope to examine the massive stars contained in a cloudy region called Sharpless 140. This cloud is a fascinating microcosm of a star-forming region since it exhibits, within a relatively small area, all of the classic manifestations of stellar birth.

Sharpless 140 lies almost 3000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cepheus. At its heart is a cluster of three deeply embedded young stars, which are each several thousand times brighter than the Sun. Though they are strikingly visible in this image from Spitzer's infrared array camera, they are completely obscured in visible light, buried within the core of the surrounding dust cloud.

The extreme youth of at least one of these stars is indicated by the presence of a stream of gas moving at high velocities. Such outflows are signatures of the processes surrounding a star that is still gobbling up material as part of its formation.

The bright red bowl, or arc, seen in this image traces the outer surface of the dense dust cloud encasing the young stars. This arc is made up primarily of organic compounds called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which glow on the surface of the cloud. Ultraviolet light from a nearby bright star outside of the image is "eating away" at these molecules. Eventually, this light will destroy the dust envelope and the masked young stars will emerge.

This image was taken on Oct. 11, 2003 and is composed of photographs obtained at four wavelengths: 3.6 microns (blue), 4.5 microns (green), 5.8 microns (orange) and 8 microns (red).

Provider: Spitzer Space Telescope

Image Source: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/1162-ssc2004-07a1-Stellar-Nursery-Sharpless-140

Curator: Spitzer Space Telescope, Pasadena, CA, USA

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

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Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
Sharpless 140
Subject - Milky Way
Nebula > Type > Star Formation

Distance

Universescale1
3,000 light years
Spitzer_ssc2004-07a1_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 22h 19m 16.6s
DEC = 63° 18’ 37.1”
Orientation
North is 43.1° CW
Field of View
31.2 x 15.8 arcminutes
Constellation
Cepheus

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Blue Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Near-IR) 3.6 µm
Green Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Near-IR) 4.5 µm
Orange Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Mid-IR) 5.8 µm
Red Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Mid-IR) 8.0 µm
Spectrum_base
Blue
Green
Orange
Red
Spitzer_ssc2004-07a1_1280
×
ID
ssc2004-07a1
Subject Category
B.4.1.2.  
Subject Name
Sharpless 140
Credits
NASA/JPL-Caltech/G. Melnick (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA)
Release Date
2004-05-11
Lightyears
3,000
Redshift
Reference Url
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/1162-ssc2004-07a1-Stellar-Nursery-Sharpless-140
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
from press release
Facility
Spitzer, Spitzer, Spitzer, Spitzer
Instrument
IRAC, IRAC, IRAC, IRAC
Color Assignment
Blue, Green, Orange, Red
Band
Infrared, Infrared, Infrared, Infrared
Bandpass
Near-IR, Near-IR, Mid-IR, Mid-IR
Central Wavelength
3600, 4500, 5800, 8000
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
334.8190837, 63.3103012
Reference Dimension
1530.0, 776.0
Reference Pixel
766.0, 389.0
Scale
0.000339831, 0.000339831
Rotation
-43.1
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Position
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
Spitzer Space Telescope
URL
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu
Name
Spitzer Space Telescope
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
ssc2004-07a1.tif
Metadata Date
2012-10-11
Metadata Version
1.1
×

 

Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×
Universescalefull
3,000 light years

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