APOD: 2025 April 9 Б HH 49: Interstellar Jet from Webb
Explanation:
What's at the tip of this interstellar jet?
First let's consider the jet: it is being expelled by a
star system just forming and is cataloged as
Herbig-Haro 49 (HH 49).
The star
system expelling this jet is
not visible -- it is off to the lower right.
The complex conical structure
featured in this infrared image by the
James Webb Space Telescope also includes another jet cataloged as HH 50.
The fast jet particles impact the
surrounding
interstellar gas and form shock waves that glow prominently in
infrared light --
shown here as reddish-brown ridges.
This JWST image
also resolved the mystery of the unusual object at
HH 49's tip: it is a
spiral galaxy far in the distance.
The blue center is therefore not one star but many,
and the surrounding circular rings are actually
spiral arms.
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Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
