The James Webb Space Telescope has captured this image of the “fiery cosmic hourglass” of a dark cloud hiding a protostar. These clouds are within the Taurus star-forming region and are only visible in infrared light, making them an appropriate candidate to be captured by Webb’s NIRCam. (Near-Infrared Camera)
The protostar, which is hidden from view, is in the “neck” of the hourglass. The dark line that is visible cutting across the neck is a protoplanetary disc. The light from the star leaks on both sides of this disc, which illuminates the cavities in the gas and dust.
In the images, you can also see filaments of molecular hydrogen that are getting shocked by the material ejected by the protostar. Under normal circumstances, stars would be forming throughout the cloud but the shocks and turbulence from the protostar stop this. Due to this, the protostar dominates the region and takes much of the material for itself.
Despite the chaotic circumstances surrounding its existence, this protostar, dubbed L1527, is only about 100,000 years old. It is considered a class 0 protostar, which is the earliest stage of star formation. This kind of protostar, still cocooned in dark clouds of dust and gas, has a long way to go before it becomes a full-fledged star.
Its shape is mostly spherical but it is also unstable. It takes the form of a puffy clump of gas that is somewhere between 20 to 40 per cent the mass of our Sun. Also, the protostar does not yet generate its own energy through the nuclear fusion of hydrogen yet, which is an essential characteristic of stars.
The shocks and turbulence caused by the protostar within L1527 prevents the formation of new stars. As a result, the protostar dominates the space, taking much of the nearby material for itself. Explore the stunning #NASAWebb image: https://t.co/iTZJOGao7i #UnfoldTheUniverse pic.twitter.com/LnCC210f2v
— Space Telescope Science Institute (@SpaceTelescope) November 16, 2022
But it will continue to gather mass and its core quill gradually compress as it gets closer to stable nuclear fusion. According to the Space Telescope Science Institute, which operates Webb, this image reveals L1527 is doing exactly that. The dust cloud around the protostar is made of dense dust and gas, which is being drawn to the centre. As it gains more gas and compresses further, the temperature at its core will rise, eventually reaching levels required for nuclear fusion to begin.
