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Outflows from the youngest stars are mostly molecular.

Authors :
Ray TP
McCaughrean MJ
Caratti O Garatti A
Kavanagh PJ
Justtanont K
van Dishoeck EF
Reitsma M
Beuther H
Francis L
Gieser C
Klaassen P
Perotti G
Tychoniec L
van Gelder M
Colina L
Greve TR
Güdel M
Henning T
Lagage PO
Östlin G
Vandenbussche B
Waelkens C
Wright G
Source :
Nature [Nature] 2023 Oct; Vol. 622 (7981), pp. 48-52. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Aug 24.
Publication Year :
2023

Abstract

The formation of stars and planets is accompanied not only by the build-up of matter, namely accretion, but also by its expulsion in the form of highly supersonic jets that can stretch for several parsecs <superscript>1,2</superscript> . As accretion and jet activity are correlated and because young stars acquire most of their mass rapidly early on, the most powerful jets are associated with the youngest protostars <superscript>3</superscript> . This period, however, coincides with the time when the protostar and its surroundings are hidden behind many magnitudes of visual extinction. Millimetre interferometers can probe this stage but only for the coolest components <superscript>3</superscript> . No information is provided on the hottest (greater than 1,000 K) constituents of the jet, that is, the atomic, ionized and high-temperature molecular gases that are thought to make up the jet's backbone. Detecting such a spine relies on observing in the infrared that can penetrate through the shroud of dust. Here we report near-infrared observations of Herbig-Haro 211 from the James Webb Space Telescope, an outflow from an analogue of our Sun when it was, at most, a few times 10 <superscript>4</superscript> years old. These observations reveal copious emission from hot molecules, explaining the origin of the 'green fuzzies' <superscript>4-7</superscript> discovered nearly two decades ago by the Spitzer Space Telescope <superscript>8</superscript> . This outflow is found to be propagating slowly in comparison to its more evolved counterparts and, surprisingly, almost no trace of atomic or ionized emission is seen, suggesting its spine is almost purely molecular.<br /> (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
1476-4687
Volume :
622
Issue :
7981
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
Nature
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
37619607
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06551-1