Even NASA does not want to feel out of place of the most anticipated American space opera "Star Wars" saga. Following the release of its seventh installment, NASA claimed to have seen what seems to be a huge, cosmic, double-sided lightsaber projecting out from a new star.
NASA scientists who maybe huge Star Wars fans themselves reveal a bright, celestial object making its way through the dark space clouds. "In the centre of the image, partially obscured by a dark, Jedi-like cloak of dust, a newborn star shoots twin jets out into space as a sort of birth announcement to the universe," an agency's spokesperson said.
The allege 'lightsaber' was captured within the Orion B molecular cloud complex, a birthing ground of new stars, located at approximately 1,350 light years away. The image was taken in infrared that allows visualization of the bright material exiting the disc of enclosing the new star.
The lightsaber photos taken by the Hubble telescope reveal heated materials leaving up and out from the star. These heated particles are a result of the flattened disk enclosing the new star. This will then cause gas to drop onto the protostar and release its excess out unto the galaxy.
The agency aims to capture more detailed images of the dust particles found around the new stars as they form using the newly launched James Webb Space Telescope. However, the association between the two has garnered mixed reactions from netizens. In defense, NASA Science Mission director John Grunsfeld said "Science fiction has been an inspiration to generations of scientists and engineers, and the film series Star Wars is no exception."
"There is no stronger case for the motivational power of real science than the discoveries that come from the Hubble Space Telescope as it unravels the mysteries of the universe," he added.
