Protostellar Outflows in Serpens

Protostellar Outflows in Serpens
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA,

STScI,
Klaus Pontoppidan (NASA-JPL),
Joel Green (STScI)

Explanation: Jets of material blasting from newborn stars, are captured in this James Webb Space Telescope close-up of the Serpens Nebula.

The powerful protostellar outflows are bipolar,
twin jets spewing
in opposite directions.

Their directions are perpendicular to accretion disks
formed around the
spinning, collapsing
stellar infants.

In the NIRcam image,
the reddish color represents emission from molecular hydrogen and
carbon monoxide produced as the jets collide with the surrounding
gas and dust.

The sharp image
shows for the first time that individual
outflows detected in the Serpens Nebula are
generally aligned along the same direction.

That result was expected, but has only now come into clear view
with Webb’s
detailed exploration
of the active young star-forming region.

Brighter foreground stars exhibit Webb’s characteristic
diffraction spikes.

At the Serpens Nebula’s estimated distance of 1,300 light-years, this
cosmic close-up frame is about 1 light-year across.