Young Star Behaves Like a Giant Roman Candle
Way out toward the edge of our Milky Way galaxy, a young star that is still forming is sending out a birth announcement to the universe in the form of a celebratory looking firework. It's not your July 4th type. These seething twin jets of hot gasses are blazing across 8 light-years – twice the distance between our Sun and the nearest star system. Superheated gases falling onto the massive star are blasted back into space along the star’s rotational axis. Powerful magnetic fields confine the jets to narrow beams, like a Star Wars lightsaber. The James Webb Space Telescope witnessed the spectacle in infrared light. The jet is plowing into interstellar dust and gas, creating fascinating details captured only by Webb.
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