- Detailed images of the Orion Nebula were captured by the James Webb telescope.
- More than 100 scientists from 18 countries participated in the preparation of the photos by AFP.
- Studying the nebula helps researchers better understand the formation of our own solar system.
Newly released images taken by the James Webb Space Telescope, or JWST, show the Orion Nebula, a stellar nursery 1,350 light-years from Earth, in stunning detail.
pictures, was released on Monday by an international team of researchers as a result of cooperation between more than 100 scientists from 18 countries, This was reported by “France Press” agency. The Orion Nebula, located in the constellation Orion, has an environment similar to that in which our solar system formed 4.5 billion years ago.
“We are blown away by the breathtaking views of the Orion Nebula. We started this project in 2017, so we have been waiting for more than five years to get this data,” he said. astrophysicist Els Peeters In a statement from the college of Canada Western University, one of the institutions involved in the project.
“These new observations allow us to better understand how massive stars modify the cloud of gas and dust from which they are born,” he added.
Although the hearts of stellar nurseries like the Orion Nebula cannot be studied because they are shrouded in stardust, JWST picks up infrared light that allows researchers to see dust clouds.
The Orion Nebula as seen through the Hubble Space Telescope (left) and the James Webb Space Telescope (right).
NASA, ESA, CSA, PDRs4All ERS Team; image processing Olivier Berné.
The images are detailed enough to reveal structures in the nebula on scales similar to the size of our solar system.
“We clearly see several dense filaments. These filamentous structures can help the formation of a new generation of stars in the deeper regions of the dust and gas cloud. Star systems that are already forming are also visible,” said French researcher Olivier Berné. National Center for Scientific Research with a statement from Western University.
“Young stars with a disk of dust and gas, in which planets form inside their cocoon, are observed in the nebula. Small holes dug by new stars, blown by strong radiation and stellar winds, are also clearly visible,” he added. .
One University of Michigan news releaseEdwin Bergin, the college’s astronomy chair, said he and other researchers hope to “gain insight into the entire cycle of star birth” from the images.
“In this way, we are looking at the period when the first generation of stars essentially radiated material for the next generation. The incredible structures we observe will detail how the feedback cycle of star birth plays out in our galaxy and beyond,” Bergin said.
The inner Orion Nebula as seen through the James Webb Space Telescope.
NASA, ESA, CSA, Data reduction and analysis: PDRs4All ERS Team; graphical processing S. Fuenmayor & O. Berné
Launched in December, JWST became operational in July and has been in production since then great images of Tarantula Nebula and Jupiter’s auroras. Also at JWST earlier this year detected water vapor On a planet the size of Jupiter 1,150 light years away.
In August, images from JWST were combined with images produced by its predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope. Amazing new images of Phantom Galaxybelongs to a class known as a large design spiral.
