The Hubble Telescope - which has been serving as the eyes of humans in deep space for decades - has captured the entire process behind the birth of a star, reports NDTV. The stunning image has been posted on the Twitter handle of Hubble and shows a streak of energy outburst from the new star.
“A star is born. A stellar tantrum - produced by an infant star in the earliest phase of formation - is captured in this week's #HubbleFriday image,” the tweet posted alongside the image said.
According to American space agency NASA, the stellar tantrum consists of an incandescent jet of gas travelling at supersonic speeds. As the jet collides with material surrounding the still-forming star, the shock heats this material and causes it to glow.
“The result is the colorfully wispy structures, which astronomers refer to as Herbig-Haro objects, billowing across the lower right of this image,” NASA further said.
These objects evolve and change significantly over just a few years. "This particular object, called HH34, resides approximately 1,250 light-years from Earth in the Orion Nebula, a large region of star formation visible to the unaided eye,” NASA added.
The image was captured by Hubble Telescope's Wide Field Camera 3.
Hubble Telescope is a joint project by NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). In service since 1990, it has captured millions of images and processes taking place around the Universe.
The images taken by the Hubble Telescope are studied extensively by astronomers all around the world. They say these images deepen their understanding of the cosmos.
The Hubble will now be replaced by the James Webb Space Telescope. Hubble's successor is completing deployment at this time and is expected to be ready for science experiments by this summer.
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