every week. The James Webb space telescope is providing humankind with looks into the cosmos like never before and this one is no different. This is the most recent photo that Nasa's new flagship telescope has taken of the Orion nebula. The nebula gets its namesake from the constellation Orion where it resides in the sky. The nebula itself is situated some 1000, 350 light years away from Earth. But in this James Webb photo, it almost feels as though you can reach out and touch it. And while it's *** nice surprise for us for the researchers who have been waiting for James Webb to open its lens and start looking at the nebula, It's been *** long time coming astrophysicist and faculty member at the Institute for Earth and Space Exploration. Ellis Peters says they've been waiting more than five years for this picture explaining about the newly released these new observations allow us to better understand how massive stars transform the gas and dust cloud in which they're born, adding that the ultraviolet radiation from those stars enters the gas clouds around them, altering not only its chemical composition, but also its physical shape. The Orion nebula you're seeing here is *** staggering 12 light years, end to end and 2000 times the mass of our sun.
James Webb Space Telescope captures star-filled portrait of 'Pillars of Creation'
Updated: 4:50 PM EDT Oct 19, 2022
Video above: The James Webb Space Telescope provides ‘breathtaking’ new views of the Orion NebulaThe James Webb Space Telescope captured a highly detailed snapshot of the so-called Pillars of Creation, a vista of three looming towers made of interstellar dust and gas that's speckled with newly formed stars.The area, which lies within the Eagle Nebula about 6,500 light-years from Earth, had previously been captured by the Hubble Telescope in 1995, creating an image deemed "iconic" by space observers.The fact that new stars are brewing within the eerie columns of cosmic dust and gas is what earned the area its name.The Webb telescope used its Near-Infrared Camera, also called NIRCam, to give astronomers a new, closer look at the region, glimpsing through some of the dusty plumes to reveal more infant stars that glow bright red."Newly formed protostars are the scene-stealers," reads a news release from the European Space Agency. "When knots with sufficient mass form within the pillars of gas and dust, they begin to collapse under their own gravity, slowly heat up, and eventually form new stars."Since Hubble first imaged the area in the 1990s, astronomers have returned to the scene several times. The ESA William Herschel Telescope, for example, has also captured an image of the distinctive area of star birth, and Hubble created its own follow-up image in 2014. Each new instrument that sets its sights on the region gives researchers new insight, according to ESA."Along the edges of the pillars are wavy lines that look like lava. These are ejections from stars that are still forming. Young stars periodically shoot out jets that can interact within clouds of material, like these thick pillars of gas and dust," according to a news release."This sometimes also results in bow shocks, which can form wavy patterns like a boat does as it moves through water," it reads. "These young stars are estimated to be only a few hundred thousand years old, and will continue to form for millions of years."Webb is operated by NASA, ESA and the Canadian Space Agency. The $10 billion space observatory, launched last December, has enough fuel to continue snapping unprecedented images of the cosmos for about 20 years.Compared with the capabilities of other telescopes, the space observatory's powerful, massive mirror and infrared light technology can uncover faint, distant galaxies that are otherwise invisible — and Webb has the potential to enhance our understanding of the origins of the universe.Some of Webb's first images, which have been rolling out since July, have highlighted the observatory's capabilities to reveal previously unseen aspects of the cosmos, like star birth shrouded in dust.However, astronomers are also using the telescope's stable and precise image quality to illuminate our own solar system, and so far it has taken images of Mars, Jupiter and Neptune.
Video above: The James Webb Space Telescope provides ‘breathtaking’ new views of the Orion Nebula
The James Webb Space Telescope captured a highly detailed snapshot of the so-called Pillars of Creation, a vista of three looming towers made of interstellar dust and gas that's speckled with newly formed stars.
The area, which lies within the Eagle Nebula about 6,500 light-years from Earth, had previously been captured by the Hubble Telescope in 1995, creating an image deemed "iconic" by space observers.
The fact that new stars are brewing within the eerie columns of cosmic dust and gas is what earned the area its name.
The Webb telescope used its Near-Infrared Camera, also called NIRCam, to give astronomers a new, closer look at the region, glimpsing through some of the dusty plumes to reveal more infant stars that glow bright red.
"Newly formed protostars are the scene-stealers," reads a news release from the European Space Agency. "When knots with sufficient mass form within the pillars of gas and dust, they begin to collapse under their own gravity, slowly heat up, and eventually form new stars."
Since Hubble first imaged the area in the 1990s, astronomers have returned to the scene several times. The ESA William Herschel Telescope, for example, has also captured an image of the distinctive area of star birth, and Hubble created its own follow-up image in 2014. Each new instrument that sets its sights on the region gives researchers new insight, according to ESA.
"Along the edges of the pillars are wavy lines that look like lava. These are ejections from stars that are still forming. Young stars periodically shoot out jets that can interact within clouds of material, like these thick pillars of gas and dust," according to a news release.
"This sometimes also results in bow shocks, which can form wavy patterns like a boat does as it moves through water," it reads. "These young stars are estimated to be only a few hundred thousand years old, and will continue to form for millions of years."
Webb is operated by NASA, ESA and the Canadian Space Agency. The $10 billion space observatory, launched last December, has enough fuel to continue snapping unprecedented images of the cosmos for about 20 years.
Compared with the capabilities of other telescopes, the space observatory's powerful, massive mirror and infrared light technology can uncover faint, distant galaxies that are otherwise invisible — and Webb has the potential to enhance our understanding of the origins of the universe.
Some of Webb's first images, which have been rolling out since July, have highlighted the observatory's capabilities to reveal previously unseen aspects of the cosmos, like star birth shrouded in dust.
However, astronomers are also using the telescope's stable and precise image quality to illuminate our own solar system, and so far it has taken images of Mars, Jupiter and Neptune.
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