Jets of gas from an infant star

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3D Model

Jets of matter originating from a young stellar object. According to current theories, material falls onto the protostar from the surrounding accretion disk (in blue at the center of the scene). The interaction between the disk and the magnetic field of the rotating star leads to the collimation and ejection of gas from the stellar magnetic poles, forming the jets (marked in purple) . The lines are sampled magnetic field lines, twisted due to rotation. The magnetic field collimation leads to the formation of shock diamonds (small yellow-red structures in the jet interior) that heat the plasma up to temperatures of few million degrees, producing X-ray emission. The arrows describe the velocity field. The model is the result of a magnetohydrodynamic simulation performed.

MHD simulation performed with the PLUTO code.

References: Ustamujic et al. 2016, A&A 596, A99; 2018, A&A 615, A124.

Credits: INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo. The Milky Way image is from ESO/S. Brunier.