‘Ice Cream Sundae’ in Space? NASA’s Webb Telescope Reveals Stunning Swirls of Cosmic Tornado | WATCH

New Delhi: Have you ever imagined an Ice Cream Sundae in space? If not, your imagination starts now. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has taken a breathtaking image of a star-forming area known as Herbig-Haro 49/50 (HH 49/50). This image shows a young star's outflow colliding with surrounding gas and dust, creating a beautiful and detailed view.  

What is Herbig-Haro 49/50? 

Herbig-Haro objects like HH 49/50 are formed when jets from young, forming stars hit nearby dense material. These collisions create shock waves that heat the gas and dust, causing them to glow. The new image from Webb shows this process in amazing detail using near- and mid-infrared light.  

A Surprise Background

Interestingly, behind HH 49/50, there is a faraway spiral galaxy that appears by chance. Earlier, NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope had seen this as a "fuzzy object" at the tip of the outflow, nicknaming it the "Cosmic Tornado." However, Webb's sharper view now shows it as a spiral galaxy.  

Why Is This Important?  

This observation helps scientists understand how young stars form and how their jets affect their surroundings. HH 49/50 is located about 625 light-years away in the Chamaeleon I Cloud complex, one of the closest star-forming regions to Earth.  

What’s Next?  

Scientists will continue studying this outflow and the young star thought to power it, called Cederblad 110 IRS4. These observations can reveal more about the early stages of star formation, similar to how our Sun might have formed.