Astronomers using the Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) onboard the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have revealed new details surrounding the dark molecular cloud LDN 1527 and its protostar.
The protostar IRAS 04368+2557, shown in this Webb image, is embedded within LDN 1527, a cloud of material that is feeding its growth. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / J. DePasquale, STScI.
LDN 1527, also known as L1527, 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 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.
“The protostar itself is hidden from view within the ‘neck’ of this hourglass shape,” Webb astronomers said in a statement.
“An edge-on protoplanetary disk is seen as a dark line across the middle of the neck.”
“Light from the protostar leaks above and below this disk, illuminating cavities within the surrounding gas and dust.”
“The region’s most prevalent features, the blue and orange clouds, outline cavities created as material shoots away from the protostar and collides with the surrounding matter.”
“The colors themselves are due to layers of dust between Webb and the clouds.”
“The blue areas are where the dust is thinnest. The thicker the layer of dust, the less blue light is able to escape, creating pockets of orange.”
The Webb image also reveals filaments of molecular hydrogen that have been shocked as IRAS 04368+2557 ejects material away from it.
Shocks and turbulence inhibit the formation of new stars, which would otherwise form throughout the cloud. As a result, the protostar dominates the space, taking much of the material for itself.
“Protostars like IRAS 04368+2557, which are still cocooned in a dark cloud of dust and gas, have a long way to go before they become fully-fledged stars,” the astronomers said.
“IRAS 04368+2557 doesn’t generate its own energy through the nuclear fusion of hydrogen yet, an essential characteristic of stars.”
“Its shape, while mostly spherical, is also unstable, taking the form of a small, hot, and puffy clump of gas somewhere between 20% and 40% of the mass of our Sun.”
“As a protostar continues to gather mass, its core gradually compresses and gets closer to stable nuclear fusion,” they added.
“The scene shown in this image reveals that IRAS 04368+2557 is doing just that.”
“The surrounding molecular cloud is made up of dense dust and gas that are being drawn towards the center, where the protostar resides.”
“As the material falls in, it spirals around the center. This creates a dense disk of material, known as an accretion disk, which feeds material onto the protostar.”
“As it gains more mass and compresses further, the temperature of its core will rise, eventually reaching the threshold for nuclear fusion to begin.”
“The disk, seen in the image as a dark band in front of the bright center, is about the size of our Solar System.”
“Given the density, it’s not unusual for much of this material to clump together — the beginnings of planets.”
“Ultimately, this view provides a window onto what our Sun and Solar System looked like in their infancy.”
