Newborn star shoots 'lightsaber' into space. A cosmic nod to Star Wars?
Could Thursday鈥檚 Hubble Space Telescope image, featuring a 鈥渄ouble-bladed lightsaber鈥� shooting through a 鈥渄ark Jedi-like cloak of dust,鈥� be a cosmic nod to the highly anticipated release of 鈥淪tar Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens鈥�?
Probably not.
But according to , unabashedly strewn with "Star Wars" references, the stream of light is coming from our own galaxy, 1,350 light-years away.
The telescope, which is operated by NASA and the聽European Space Agency, shot the image in infrared light, which allowed it to capture a clear picture through the gas and dust obstructing the fledgling star.
The light stream that鈥檚 visible, which the Hubble press release likens to Darth Maul鈥檚 double-bladed lightsaber from the 1999 Star Wars installment, 鈥淭he Phantom Menace,鈥� is actually two streams shooting out from opposite ends of a newly formed star, which in the image is hidden in the center by clouds of dust and gas.
The light beam is located in the Orion Complex, which is a part of the Orion constellation, a fertile region for forming stars.
Here, embryonic stars, called protostars, gather disks of gas that have the potential to turn into solar systems like our own. The growing stars, with a 鈥淛abba-like appetite鈥� explains the team behind Hubble, feeds off the gas. When enough gas has been gathered, the star awakens, ejecting jets of gas from its poles. As the jets travel at high speeds in separate directions, the friction heats the gas surrounding the jets to thousands of degrees.
鈥淭heir effect on their environment demonstrates the true power of the Dark Side with a blast stronger than one from a fully armed and operational Death Star battle station,鈥� the press release reads.
These interstellar light beams are called Herbig鈥揌aro (HH) objects. The one shown in today鈥檚 Hubble image is dubbed HH 24.
