Hubble captures near-infrared images of infant protostars

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has captured near-infrared images of newly developing, dust-shrouded protostars in several high-mass star-forming regions as part of an effort to study how massive stars form. Protostars are hidden by thick dust that blocks visible light, but Hubble can detect near-infrared emission that shines through holes created by jets of gas and dust.

That radiating energy can reveal properties of these “outflow cavities,” including their structure, radiation fields, and dust content. Researchers are comparing features such as outflows, environment, mass and brightness with evolutionary stage to test theories of massive star formation.

The images were taken for the SOFIA Massive (SOMA) Star Formation Survey, which focuses on how stars form, especially those with more than eight times the mass of the Sun. In the high-mass region Cepheus A — about 2,400 light-years away in the constellation Cepheus — a collection of young stars includes one large, luminous protostar that accounts for roughly half the region’s brightness; light escaping through outflow cavities produces pink and white nebulae, with the pink area identified as an H II region of ionized hydrogen.

Other Hubble pictures show a reflection nebula in the Milky Way region G033.91+0.11 and an emission nebula in GAL-305.20+00.21 where glowing, ionized gas is powered by a buried protostar.

Key Topics

Science, Hubble Space Telescope, Protostars, Soma Survey, Cepheus A, H Ii Region