What Do Jets Tell Us about Star Birth?
“The jet’s clumpy structure is like a stockbroker’s ticker tape; they represent a recorded history of events that occurred close to the star”, said Jon Morse. “The spacing of the clumps in the jet reveals that variations are occurring on several time scales close to the star where the jet originates. Like a “put-put” motor, variations every 20 to 30 years create the strings of blobs we see”, Morse concluded. “However, every few hundred years or so, a large amplitude variation generates a ‘whopper’ of a knot, which evolves into one of the major bow-shaped shock waves”. Other Hubble views by Chris Burrows reveal new blobs may be ejected every few months. “If the circumstellar disk drives the jet then the clumpiness of the jet provides an indirect measure of irregularities in the disk”. Why Are Jets “Kinky”? The Hubble pictures also show clear evidence that jets have unusual kinks along their path of motion. This might be evidence for a stellar companion or planetary system that pulls on
