Bow shock in stellar jet HH 34

This video shows a close-up of a bow shock in Herbig-Haro object HH 34, a jet expelled from a newborn star in the constellation of Orion. 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 34 made in 1994, 1998 and 2007.