This gorgeous image spans around half a light-year across Herbig-Haro 24, a region located within the stellar nursery known as the Orion B Molecular Cloud Complex around 1,300 light years away. The two beams are jets being emitted by a newly born star. Along each of the jets are knots of nebular gas and dust called Herbig-Haro objects, which form as the jets collide with the surrounding gas in the Orion B cloud complex, a region where stars are being formed.
The central protostar is currently surrounded by an accretion disk. Material within the disk spirals inward as the star begins to form. As the material falls inward it creates friction and heats up. The amount of energy released generates the two jets you see in the image.
Image credit: NASA/ESA
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