It is very difficult to see a star being born. Much of the protostar’s formation process and details are hidden from prying eyes within a thick blanket of dust. Typically, stars are forged within dark nebulae, whose higher concentration of matter makes them more opaque.
Fortunately, the infrared band offers a slit through which to peek, and this, together with the extraordinary scrutiny power of the NASA, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) James Webb Space Telescope, has allowed the Webb capture this spectacular image of the dark cloud L1527, revealing details never seen before.
The structure is quite reminiscent of an hourglass. The protostar is hidden in the slender neck of the hourglass. The bright plumes above and below that neck are essentially jets of material propelled by the star colliding with surrounding matter.
L1527 is only about 100,000 years old. Due to its age and its characteristics, L1527 is considered a class 0 protostar, that is, in the earliest stage of star formation.
Protostars like this one, still shrouded in a dark pall of dust and gas, have a long way to go before they become full-fledged stars.
(Image: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI. Image processing: J. DePasquale, A. Pagan, and A. Koekemoer (STScI))
L1527 does not yet generate its own power through nuclear fusion of hydrogen. But as the protostar accumulates mass, its core gradually compresses, its temperature increases, and the star moves ever closer to the activation of stable nuclear fusion. (Font: NCYT by Amazings)