Interstellar filaments in Polaris
Copyright: ESA and the SPIRE & PACS consortia, Ph. André (CEA
Saclay) for the Gould’s Belt Survey Key Programme Consortium, and A.
Abergel (IAS Orsay) for the Evolution of Interstellar Dust Key Programme
Consortium. Hi-res image
Description: Just as the new calendar year begins, and with it a feeling of new
beginnings, so this network of dust and gas shows a portion of sky where
star birth is yet to take hold.
This region is in Polaris, 490
light-years away. It was imaged by ESA’s Herschel space observatory in
2011; a colour composite is presented here.
It shows several tens
of tangled interstellar filaments. Such filaments can stretch for tens
of light-years through space and can precede the onset of star
formation, with newborn stars often found in the densest parts.
Embedded
within the filaments are a number of denser patches of material, but
hardly any currently appear to be the seeds of future stars. As they are
now, the filaments are simply not massive enough to support star
formation.
Whether or not this currently calm region becomes a stellar nursery in the future remains to be seen.
The
region was imaged by Herschel’s Photodetector Array Camera and
Spectrometer and Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver at infrared
wavelengths of 250, 350 and 500 microns.
Source: ESA/Space in Images
