Protostar HH-34 in Orion

Three-colour composite of the young object Herbig-Haro 34 (HH-34), now in the protostar stage of evolution. It is based on CCD frames obtained with the FORS2 instrument in imaging mode, on November 2 and 6, 1999.

This object has a remarkable, very complicated appearance that includes two opposite jets that ram into the surrounding interstellar matter. This structure is produced by a machine-gun-like blast of "bullets" of dense gas ejected from the star at high velocities (approaching 250 km/sec). This seems to indicate that the star experiences episodic "outbursts" when large chunks of material fall onto it from a surrounding disc.

HH-34 is located at a distance of approx. 1,500 light-years, near the famous Orion Nebula, one of the most productive star birth regions. Note also the enigmatic "waterfall" to the upper left, a feature that is still unexplained.

The composite of three images was taken through three different filters : B (wavelength 429 nm; Full-Width-Half-Maximum (FWHM) 88 nm; exposure time 10 min; here rendered as blue), H-alpha (centered on the hydrogen emission line at wavelength 656 nm; FWHM 6 nm; 30 min; green) and S II (centrered at the emission lines of inonized sulphur at wavelength 673 nm; FWHM 6 nm; 30 min; red) during a period of 0.8 arcsec seeing. The field shown measures 6.8 x 6.8 arcmin and the images were recorded in frames of 2048 x 2048 pixels, each measuring 0.2 arcsec. North is up; East is left.

Crédit:

ESO

À propos de l'image

Identification:eso9948b
Type:Observation
Date de publication:17 novembre 1999
Communiqués de presse en rapport:eso9948
Taille:4961 x 4961 px

À propos de l'objet

Nom:HH 34
Type:Milky Way : Star : Evolutionary Stage : Protostar
Distance:1500 années lumière
Constellation:Orion
Catégorie:Nebulae

Formats des images

Grand JPEG
4,3 Mio
JPEG taille écran
250,8 Kio

Zoomable


Fonds d'écran

1024x768
296,7 Kio
1280x1024
469,4 Kio
1600x1200
655,2 Kio
1920x1200
758,2 Kio
2048x1536
984,3 Kio

Coordinates

Position (RA):5 35 27.97
Position (Dec):-6° 25' 45.39"
Field of view:6.71 x 6.71 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 1.6° right of vertical

Couleurs & filtres

DomaineLongueur d'ondeTélescope
Visible
B
429 nmVery Large Telescope
FORS2
Visible
H-alpha
656 nmVery Large Telescope
FORS2
Visible
SII
673 nmVery Large Telescope
FORS2