Hubble was looking for evidence of how young stars influence their surroundings, and this image of Herbig-Haro (HH) 45 provides plenty.
According to NASA, what we see in HH45 is an unusual manifestation of a nebula that occurs when a newborn star spews hot gas.
This activity “collides with the gas and dust around it at hundreds of miles per second, creating bright shock waves,” said NASA.
The image captured by Hubble shows two sets of ionized gases blazing as charged electrons are stripped from their atoms by the collision. Ionized oxygen is shown in blue, while ionized magnesium is shown in purple.
“Researchers were particularly interested in these elements because they can be used to identify shocks and ionization fronts,” the agency added.
If you look at this picture of Herbig-Haro (HH) 45, you can see a lot about how young stars affect their surroundings.
Hubble is resuming operations after a synchronization problem on Oct. 23 that sent its science instruments into safe mode. However, while Hubble’s sensors are being repaired, there is plenty of work available from earlier probes.
The observatory, which is 31 years old, was last serviced in person in 2009 and has not been visited by astronauts since the space shuttle departed in 2011, due to inaccessibility with contemporary spacecraft.
Image Credit: NASA
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