Herbig-Haro object HH212

The image shows a long-slit (2 arcmin) spectrum in the 2 - 2.5µm spectral region of the Herbig Haro object HH212 . The spectral resolution is about 500. It is believed that a protostar - that is invisible even at infrared wavelengths - is responsible for the two pulsed jets seen in this spectral image. They are remarkable because of the high degree of symmetry of the 'blobs' which have been ejected in opposite directions (up and down in this image). Each of the individual 'images' shows the jets in a different spectral line emitted by molecular hydrogen that has been shock excited by the impact of the ejected gas.