This Intergalactic Particle Jet Beam is a cauldron of gorgeous insanity

Watch out for HH 24. That young stellar object isn’t fooling around, flinging electrons and protons without much fucks to give. I mean sure this infrared picture of the entire endeavor is gorgeous, but like the Siren upon the rocks, its looks can be deceiving.

If you visit HH 24, don’t go near the particle beam jet. This potential future travel advisory might be issued because the powerful jet likely contains electrons and protons moving hundreds of kilometers per second. The above image was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in infrared light in order to better understand turbulent star forming regions known as Young Stellar Objects (YSOs). Frequently when a star forms, a disk of dust and gas circles the YSO causing a powerful central jets to appear. In this case, the energetic jets are creating, at each end, Herbig-Haro object 24 (HH 24), as they slam into the surrounding interstellar gas. The entire star forming region lies about 1,500 light years distant in the Orion B molecular cloud complex. Due to their rarity, jets like that forming HH 24 are estimated to last only a few thousand years.

[NASA]