Bow shock in stellar jet HH 47

This video shows a close-up of a bow shock in Herbig-Haro object HH 47, a jet expelled from a newborn star in the southern constellation of Vela. Bow shocks like this are similar to the bow wave caused by a boat moving through water. They are produced by fast-moving material from the star colliding with slower-moving material. The video was made by stitching together observations of HH 47 made in 1994, 1999 and 2008.