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By NASA // November 5, 2018
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near infrared vision of the Hubble Space Telescope captured by NASA
Shadows on Earth can be mysterious and disturbing, but when they happen in space, they can convey information that we might not know otherwise. In a stellar nursery called the Serpens Nebula, about 1,300 light-years away from the night, a play of shadow featuring a young star reveals the secrets of his invisible disk forming a planet. (Image of NASA)
(NASA) – Shadows on Earth can be mysterious and disturbing, but when they happen in space, they can convey information we might not know otherwise. In a stellar nursery called the Serpens Nebula, about 1,300 light-years away from the night, a play of shadow featuring a young star reveals the secrets of his invisible disk forming a planet.
The near infrared vision of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured the shadow projected by the bright light of the nascent star blocked by this disk.
Named HBC 672, this Sun-like star is surrounded by a ring of dust, rocks and ice, a disk too small and too far to be seen, even by Hubble. But like a little fly walking in the beam of a flashlight shining on a wall, its shadow is projected largely on the cloud in which it was born.
In this Hubble image, the function – nicknamed the "Bat Shadow" – covers about 200 times the length of our solar system. It is visible in the upper right of the image.
"It's analogous to what the solar system looked like when it was only 1 or 2 million years old," said Klaus Pontoppidan, astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland. "For all we know, the solar system has already created a shadow like this."
The presence of a shadow means that the disc is viewed almost marginally. This is something we could not know otherwise because the disc is too far from us, which makes it too small to be seen by Hubble.
The shadow of the disk is similar to that produced by a cylindrical shade. The light escapes from the top and bottom of the shadow, but along its perimeter, dark cones of shaded form. Although the disc that creates the shadow is a common object around young stars, the combination of an outline vision angle and the surrounding nebula is rare.
Scientists can use the shadow to determine the shape of the disc. For example, they now know that the disc is swollen, which implies that it is full of essence. Although most of the shadow is completely opaque, scientists can look for color differences along its edges, in which light enters. They can use the shape and color of the shade to determine the size and composition of the dust grains suspended in the disc.
"These shadows are not easily visible in visible light, but stellar discs and shadows projected onto the surrounding nebula can be easily detected by infrared light," said Max Mutchler, researcher and instrument expert at STScI. "This infrared bat shadow reveals the properties of the small dusty disk and the much larger nebula."
The shadow is an example of what the future James Webb Space Telescope will be able to study in more depth. "Webb's power lies in its ability to see the dust and gases in these disks to understand the material that makes up these planet-forming environments," said STScI scientist Alexandra Lockwood.
A similar-looking shadow phenomenon emanates from another young star, at the top left of Hubble's image. Bottom right, what seems to be a void is probably part of a cloud in the foreground. The light of the double red star inside the void is partially blocked by this cloud.
The image will be used with the NASA Learning Universe to illustrate how shadows can convey information about phenomena invisible to us. This program creates materials and experiences to enable learners to explore the universe on their own. NASA's Univers of Learning material is based on NASA-supported work under the NNX16AC65A attribution number.
The Hubble Space Telescope is an international cooperation project between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in the Maryland Greenbelt manages the telescope. The Institute of Space Telescope Sciences (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland, conducts Hubble's scientific activities. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Washington, D.C.
CLICK HERE for more information on NASA's Universe of Learning.
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