The Chamaeleon I dark cloud is one of the closest star-forming regions in our galaxy, the Milky Way.
The Infrared Chameleon Nebula is so named because it is bright in some wavelengths of infrared light. Also known as Cha IRN, GN 11.07.3, and IRAS 11072-7727, the nebula lies 457 light-years away in the constellation of Chamaeleon, a minor southern constellation.
“Hidden in the core of this reflection nebula, and at the center of this image, is the nebula’s engine, a low-mass star, less massive than our Sun, that is dwarfed by a dark vertical band,” said the researchers. astronomers. “Although hidden from view, this cool young star is emitting fast-moving streams of gas that have tunneled through the interstellar cloud from which the young star formed.”
“Astronomers think that the dark band at the center of the Chamaeleon Infrared Nebula is a circumstellar disk, a reservoir of gas and dust that orbits the star . Circumstellar disks are typically associated with young stars and provide the materials needed to build planets.” experts clarify.
“The reason the disk appears as a band instead of a circle in this image is because it is edge-on and only reveals one edge to observers here on Earth.”
Referencia: International Gemini Observatory / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / T.A. Rector, University of Alaska Anchorage & NSF’s NOIRLab / J. Miller, Gemini Observatory & NSF’s NOIRLab / M. Zamani, NSF’s NOIRLab / D. de Martin, NSF’s NOIRLab.
