A stunning array of young stellar objects has been captured by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope in a breathtaking new image. In the star-forming region NGC 1333, several protostars and planet-forming disks are visible, each with its own unique characteristics.
To the left, an actively forming star casts its glow on the surrounding gas and dust, creating a reflection nebula. The protoplanetary disk surrounding this star is a region where planets could form, while the dark stripes on either side of the bright point represent the shadow cast by the disk onto the large envelope of material around the star.
In contrast, to the center right, an outflow cavity reveals a fan-shaped reflection nebula. Two stars at its base, HBC 340 and HBC 341, unleash stellar winds that clear out the cavity from the surrounding molecular cloud over time.
The four beaming stars near the bottom of the image and one in the top right corner are also Orion variable stars, which change in brightness irregularly and unpredictably. The rest of the cloudscape is dotted with other young stellar objects.
NGC 1333 lies about 950 light-years away in the Perseus molecular cloud, and Hubble's image provides valuable insights into young stellar objects such as properties of circumstellar disks and outflows in the gas and dust created by these stars.
To the left, an actively forming star casts its glow on the surrounding gas and dust, creating a reflection nebula. The protoplanetary disk surrounding this star is a region where planets could form, while the dark stripes on either side of the bright point represent the shadow cast by the disk onto the large envelope of material around the star.
In contrast, to the center right, an outflow cavity reveals a fan-shaped reflection nebula. Two stars at its base, HBC 340 and HBC 341, unleash stellar winds that clear out the cavity from the surrounding molecular cloud over time.
The four beaming stars near the bottom of the image and one in the top right corner are also Orion variable stars, which change in brightness irregularly and unpredictably. The rest of the cloudscape is dotted with other young stellar objects.
NGC 1333 lies about 950 light-years away in the Perseus molecular cloud, and Hubble's image provides valuable insights into young stellar objects such as properties of circumstellar disks and outflows in the gas and dust created by these stars.