HUBBLE CELEBRATES 33RD ANNIVERSARY WITH A PEEK INTO A NEARBY STAR-FORMING REGION

Stsci_2023-012a_1024

stsci_2023-012a April 20th, 2023

Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI; Image Processing: Jennifer Mack, Varun Bjaja, Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

You should know where you come from, but understanding the birth of our Sun and family of planets is largely sketchy because it happened 4.6 billion years ago. Trying to imagine far back in time, what were the initial conditions for the genesis of our solar system? Early astronomers thought the Sun formed in isolation, condensing from a wandering cloud of interstellar gas. This new picture of the nebula NGC 1333 offers a peek into the chaotic and messy star-formation process. For starters it shows that stars are not born in isolation but in batches. They are built from cold interstellar hydrogen that is laced with soot-like dust. Veils of dust block much of the Hubble Space Telescope’s view into the stellar cauldron. But young bright stars do poke out, like seeing sunlight pierce through clouds on a largely overcast day. Peering deep down inside, Hubble catches a glimpse of a fiery mosh pit of stars putting on their own fireworks show by blasting out jets of hot gas that look like July 4th Roman candles.

This photo was taken in celebration of the 33rd anniversary of the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope on April 24, 1990.

Provider: Space Telescope Science Institute

Image Source: https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2023/news-2023-012

Curator: STScI, Baltimore, MD, USA

Image Use Policy: http://stsci.edu/copyright/

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
NGC 1333
Subject - Milky Way
Nebula > Type > Star Formation

Distance

Universescale1
1,000 light years
Stsci_2023-012a_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 3h 29m 9.6s
DEC = 31° 22’ 27.8”
Orientation
North is 33.9° CW
Field of View
4.9 x 7.5 arcminutes
Constellation
Perseus

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Blue Hubble (WFC3/UVIS) Optical (B) 475.0 nm
Green Hubble (WFC3/UVIS) Optical (V) 606.0 nm
Red Hubble (WFC3/UVIS) Optical (Halpha [NII]) 657.0 nm
Red Hubble (WFC3/UVIS) Optical (I) 814.0 nm
Spectrum_base
Blue
Green
Red
Red
Stsci_2023-012a_1280
×
ID
2023-012a
Subject Category
B.4.1.2  
Subject Name
NGC 1333
Credits
NASA, ESA, STScI; Image Processing: Jennifer Mack, Varun Bjaja, Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
Release Date
2023-04-20T00:00:00
Lightyears
1,000
Redshift
1,000
Reference Url
https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2023/news-2023-012
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
distance in lightyears
Facility
Hubble, Hubble, Hubble, Hubble
Instrument
WFC3/UVIS, WFC3/UVIS, WFC3/UVIS, WFC3/UVIS
Color Assignment
Blue, Green, Red, Red
Band
Optical, Optical, Optical, Optical
Bandpass
B, V, Halpha [NII], I
Central Wavelength
475, 606, 657, 814
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
2000.0
Reference Value
52.29019775014, 31.37438993214
Reference Dimension
7424.00, 11315.00
Reference Pixel
3771.64965866531, 5662.87490356600
Scale
-0.00001110732, 0.00001110732
Rotation
-33.87772831530
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
World Coordinate System resolved using PinpointWCS 0.9.2 revision 218+ by the Chandra X-ray Center
Creator (Curator)
STScI
URL
http://stsci.edu
Name
Space Telescope Science Institute Office of Public Outreach
Email
outreach@stsci.edu
Telephone
410-338-4444
Address
3700 San Martin Drive
City
Baltimore
State/Province
MD
Postal Code
21218
Country
USA
Rights
http://stsci.edu/copyright/
Publisher
STScI
Publisher ID
stsci
Resource ID
STSCI-H-p23012a-f-7424x11315.tif
Metadata Date
2023-04-18T11:45:47-04:00
Metadata Version
1.2
×

 

Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×
Universescalefull
1,000 light years

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