Astronomers using the MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) camera aboard the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have captured a striking new photo of the molecular cloud L1527.
L1527, also known as LDN 1527, is located approximately 447 light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Taurus.
An infant protostar called IRAS 04368+2557 is embedded within the molecular cloud, which is part of the Taurus star-forming region.
IRAS 04368+2557 is only 100,000 years old — a relatively young stellar body.
Given its age and its brightness in far-infrared light, the star is considered a class 0 protostar, the earliest stage of star formation.
IRAS 04368+2557 hosts an edge-on disk with two misaligned parts.
The inner and outer parts of the disk have slightly different orbital planes, connected at 40 to 60 AU (astronomical units) from the protostar, but the disk has point symmetry with respect to the protostar’s position.
Webb’s previous observation of L1527, with NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera), allowed astronomers to peer into this region and revealed this molecular cloud and protostar in opaque, vibrant colors.
Both NIRCam and MIRI show the effects of outflows, which are emitted in opposite directions along the protostar’s rotation axis as the object consumes gas and dust from the surrounding cloud.
These outflows take the form of bow shocks to the surrounding molecular cloud, which appear as filamentary structures throughout.
They are also responsible for carving the bright hourglass structure within the molecular cloud as they energize, or excite, the surrounding matter and cause the regions above and below it to glow.
“Unlike NIRCam, however, which mostly shows the light that is reflected off dust, MIRI provides a look into how these outflows affect the region’s thickest dust and gases,” the Webb astronomers said in a statement.
“The areas colored here in blue, which encompass most of the hourglass, show mostly carbonaceous molecules known as…
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