IRAS 16253–2429 - B335
In stellar nurseries throughout the Milky Way, baby stars swaddled in
dusty blankets are growing rapidly and shaping their birth
environments. Recently, a research team led by Samuel Federman
(University of Toledo) used JWST to investigate the behavior of five
young protostars, two of which are shown in the image above. The new
JWST images capture the squalls of protostars in their earliest stages,
about which relatively little is known. During these early stages,
protostars are swathed in dense, dusty envelopes of gas that fall onto
the star, spurring rapid growth through accretion. The accretion, in
turn, powers narrow outflowing jets and wide outflowing winds that carve
out a cavity in the surrounding envelope, creating the characteristic
hourglass shapes in the images above. For more information and a closer
look at all of the protostars in the sample, be sure to check out the
full research article linked below.
By Kerry Hensley
Citation
“Investigating Protostellar Accretion-driven Outflows across the Mass Spectrum: JWST NIRSpec Integral Field Unit 3–5 μm Spectral Mapping of Five Young Protostars,” Samuel A. Federman et al 2024 ApJ 966 41. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ad2fa0
