NGC 1333

NGC 1333
Reflection nebula
JWST NIRISS image of part of NGC 1333, with the Herbig-Haro object HH 12 at its center. On the right side in the lower half of the image is ASR 41, which has a young star with a disk that casts a shadow into the surrounding dusty medium.
Observation data: J2000.0 epoch
Right ascension03h 29m 11.3s[1]
Declination+31° 18′ 36″[1]
Distance967 ly (296.5 pc)[1] ly
Apparent magnitude (V)5.6
Apparent dimensions (V)6′ x 3′
ConstellationPerseus
DesignationsCed 16, GN 03.26.1, LBN 741[2]
See also: Lists of nebulae

NGC 1333 is a reflection nebula located in the northern constellation Perseus, positioned next to the southern constellation border with Taurus and Aries.[3] It was first discovered by German astronomer Eduard Schönfeld in 1855.[4] The nebula is visible as a hazy patch in a small telescope, while a larger aperture will show a pair of dark nebulae designated Barnard 1 and Barnard 2.[5] It is associated with a dark cloud L1450 (Barnard 205). Estimates of the distance to this nebula range from 980–1,140 ly (300–350 pc).[4]

This nebula is in the western part[4] of the Perseus molecular cloud and is a young region of very active star formation,[6] being one of the best-studied objects of its type.[4] It contains a fairly typical hierarchy of star clusters that are still embedded in the molecular cloud in which they formed,[7] which are split into two main sub-groups to the north and south. Most of the infrared emission is happening in the southern part of the nebula. A significant portion of the stars seen in the infrared are in the pre-main sequence stage of their evolution.[6]

The nebula region has a combined mass of approximately 450 M☉,[4] while the cluster contains around 150 stars with a median age of a million years and a combined mass of 100 M☉. The average star formation rate is 1×10−4 M☉ yr–1.[4] Within the nebula are 20 young stellar objects producing outflows, including Herbig–Haro objects, and a total of 95 X-ray sources that are associated with known members of embedded star clusters.[6] In 2011 researchers reported finding 30 to 40 brown dwarf objects in the cloud and in the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex.[8]

15 objects with a spectral type of M9 or later were discovered in NGC 1333. This spectral type corresponds to a mass of a planetary-mass object (PMO) at the age of NGC 1333. About 42% of the PMO are surrounded by a circumstellar disk, but only one out of six objects with a spectral type of L0 (about 10 MJ) or later has a disk. Scholz et al. argues that this indicates that very low mass PMOs form like planets (aka ejected planets) and not like stars (also called sub-brown dwarfs).[9] Parker & Alves de Oliveira on the other hand argue that the distribution of PMOs in NGC 1333 follows N-body simulations of objects that form like stars and that none of the PMOs has a peculiar motion, which is predicted for ejected planets. They also note that ejected planets are hiding in this and other star-forming regions.[10] Additional PMOs were discovered by Scholz et al. 2012 with Subaru (e.g. SONYC-NGC1333-36 with estimated 6 MJ)[11] and by Langeveld et al. 2024 with JWST (6 objects and one JuMBO candidate). Langeveld et al. did not find any object below 4 MJ, despite JWST being sensitive enough to detect these objects. This could mean that star-formation does not occur below 4 MJ, which is consistent with previous observations in most star-forming regions and the nearby stellar population. One source, called NIRISS-NGC1333-5 (NN5), shows infrared excess, which is an indication of a disk around the object. With a mass of 5 MJ, this object could be one of the lowest mass object with a disk known so far.[12]

  1. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Soubiran2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference SIMBAD was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Sinnott1997 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b c d e f Cite error: The named reference Walawender2008 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Inglis2004 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Getman2002 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Schulz2005 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference sdc111011 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Scholz2023 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Parker2023 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Scholz2012 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference Langeveld2024 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).