Webb’s holiday card sorted! 🎄
NGC 7469 is like a cosmic wreath bursting with new stars. This galaxy is very dusty, but Webb’s infrared vision can peer through to observe features like the intense ring of star formation close around its bright center. Read more: esawebb.org/images/potm2212a/
What are those large spikes? They’re not real objects, but diffraction spikes, an effect of very bright light interacting with the telescope mirrors. Here the center of the galaxy is extremely bright due to light emitted by heated dust and gas falling into the central black hole.
Image credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, L. Armus, A. S. Evans
[Image description: A face-on galaxy, with gray spiral arms, sprinkled with bright red patches of star formation. Its center glows brightly and 6 spikes project from it - these are diffraction spikes. In the background are red and white glowing dots, which are other galaxies. Some of the background galaxies are recognizable as spirals.]
Tags: jwst webb james webb space telescope galaxy infrared
Webb scientists uncovered “buried treasure,” and the Cosmic Cliffs marked the spot. ☠️
You might remember this view, taken in the Carina Nebula, as part of Webb’s first images released. A deep dive into the data has newly revealed a hotbed of young stars in an elusive stage of development. This discovery may help us investigate how stars like our Sun form, as well as how radiation from nearby massive stars might affect the development of planets.
Webb was able to detect the signatures of extremely young stars, never before seen. Stars at this early stage of development are hidden inside clouds of dust and gas, and are only visible in infrared light and with high resolution instruments.
These young stars interact with their environments by taking in material and then ejecting some of it. The ejections, in the form of jets and outflows of matter, heat the surrounding hydrogen gas (H2, or molecular hydrogen), causing it to emit light.
Learn more: www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/nasa-s-webb-unveils-you...
Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Megan Reiter (Rice University), with image processing by Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Anton M. Koekemoer (STScI)
Image description: The image is divided horizontally by an undulating line between a cloudscape forming a nebula along the bottom portion and a comparatively clear upper portion. Speckled across both portions is a starfield. The upper portion of the image is blueish, and has wispy translucent cloud-like streaks rising from the nebula below. The orangish cloudy formation in the bottom half varies in density and ranges from translucent to opaque. The cloud-like structure of the nebula contains ridges, peaks, and valleys – an appearance very similar to a mountain range.]
Tags: NGC 3324 Carina Nebula jwst webb james webb space telescope
Webb scientists uncovered “buried treasure,” and the Cosmic Cliffs marked the spot. ☠️
You might remember this view, taken in the Carina Nebula, as part of Webb’s first images released. A deep dive into the data has newly revealed a hotbed of young stars in an elusive stage of development. This discovery may help us investigate how stars like our Sun form, as well as how radiation from nearby massive stars might affect the development of planets.
Webb was able to detect the signatures of extremely young stars, never before seen. Stars at this early stage of development are hidden inside clouds of dust and gas, and are only visible in infrared light and with high resolution instruments.
These young stars interact with their environments by taking in material and then ejecting some of it. The ejections, in the form of jets and outflows of matter, heat the surrounding hydrogen gas (H2, or molecular hydrogen), causing it to emit light.
Learn more: www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/nasa-s-webb-unveils-you...
Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Megan Reiter (Rice University), with image processing by Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Anton M. Koekemoer (STScI)
In this image: Insets on the right-hand side highlight three regions of the Cosmic Cliffs with particularly active molecular hydrogen outflows.
Image description: The image is split into 4 boxes. On the left is a large box that takes up half of the full image. On the right are 3 boxes (2 boxes split vertically at the top, the third across the bottom). The right boxes are enlarged areas of the left image, labeled 1, 2, and 3 respectively, and are indicated by corresponding white outlines on the left image. The left image is divided horizontally by an undulating line between a cloudscape forming a nebula along the bottom and a comparatively clear upper portion. Speckled across both portions is a starfield. The upper portion of the image is blueish, and has wispy translucent cloud-like streaks rising from the nebula below. The orangish cloud-like structure of the nebula contains ridges, peaks, and valleys. The 3 pull-out images are close-ups of bright red, elongated splotches within the cloud, labeled as molecular hydrogen outflows. In box 2, a roughly horizontal line that ends in 2 c-shaped curves, labeled jet and bow shocks, is superimposed.
Tags: NGC 3324 Carina Nebula jwst webb james webb space telescope
A galactic panoramic
This multi-wavelength image combines eight colors of near-infrared light captured by Webb with three colors of ultraviolet and visible light from Hubble. It shows — in unprecedented detail and exquisite depth — a universe full of galaxies, many of which were previously unseen by Hubble or large ground-based telescopes.
While this shot is just a portion of what will be the complete wide field covered by this Webb program, it’s already unveiling wonders. The faintest objects here are about 1 billion times fainter than what can be seen with our eyes.
Image Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, A. Pagan (STScI) & R. Jansen (ASU).
Science: R. Jansen, J. Summers, R. O'Brien, and R. Windhorst (Arizona State University); A. Robotham (ICRAR/UWA); A. Koekemoer (STScI); C. Willmer (UofA); and the PEARLS team
Image description: This image depicts a field of hundreds of galaxies of various shapes, colors and sizes. Most are small while a handful are somewhat larger. A few stars are also scattered across the image. Some have Webb’s characteristic 8-point diffraction spikes, while others have additional spikes due to a combination of image exposures.
Tags: jwst webb james webb space telescope
A galactic panoramic
This multi-wavelength image combines eight colors of near-infrared light captured by Webb with three colors of ultraviolet and visible light from Hubble. It shows — in unprecedented detail and exquisite depth — a universe full of galaxies, many of which were previously unseen by Hubble or large ground-based telescopes.
While this shot is just a portion of what will be the complete wide field covered by this Webb program, it’s already unveiling wonders. The faintest objects here are about 1 billion times fainter than what can be seen with our eyes.
Image Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, A. Pagan (STScI) & R. Jansen (ASU).
Science: R. Jansen, J. Summers, R. O'Brien, and R. Windhorst (Arizona State University); A. Robotham (ICRAR/UWA); A. Koekemoer (STScI); C. Willmer (UofA); and the PEARLS team
Image description: On a black background, a white border outlines an irregularly shaped, mostly rectangular area. Within the outline lie hundreds of galaxies of various shapes, colors and sizes. Two white boxes on the left side of the field enclose groups of galaxies. From each box, a line extends out beyond the border of the galaxy field to an enlarged image of the galaxy group, revealing streams of stars and tidal tails. On the right side, a third box encloses a spiral galaxy. A line extends beyond the border of the galaxy field to an enlarged image of the spiral galaxy. A few stars are also scattered across the image. Some have Webb’s characteristic 8-point diffraction spikes, while others have additional spikes due to a combination of image exposures.
Tags: jwst webb james webb space telescope