Webb Telescope Unveils Distant Spiral Galaxy at Tip of 'Cosmic Tornado'

The James Webb Space Telescope captures the most detailed image yet of Herbig-Haro 49/50, revealing intricate molecular dynamics and resolving a decades-old mystery.

The James Webb Space Telescope has provided a high-resolution image of Herbig-Haro 49/50, a protostellar outflow located approximately 625-630 light-years away in the Chamaeleon constellation.
Webb's imaging resolved the fuzzy object at the tip of the outflow, first observed by Spitzer in 2006, as a distant face-on barred spiral galaxy with regions of forming stars and warm dust.
The image reveals intricate details of the outflow, including glowing hydrogen and carbon monoxide molecules, as well as energized dust grains, advancing studies of star formation and jet activity.
Scientists suspect the protostar Cederblad 110 IRS4, located about 1.5 light-years from HH 49/50, is the source of the jet creating the outflow.
The Chamaeleon I Cloud complex, where HH 49/50 is located, is one of the Milky Way's closest star-forming regions and offers insights into environments similar to the Sun's formation.

Newsweek

NASA

European Space Agency