Space Odyssey: Stunning Images From The James Webb Telescope
Desk Report
Published: 26 Nov 2024, 06:26 pm
Columns of gray gas and dust emerge amid The Eagle Nebula, also called M16, and often referred to as the "Pillars of Creation" in a composite image taken by the James Webb Telescope. Backed by dark orange mist, the cloudy gray columns are surrounded by dozens of soft, glowing, pink and purple dots; massive stars emitting enormous amounts of X-rays || Photo : NASA
A near-infrared image of the Ring Nebula revealing the complexity of its structure in unprecedented detail is seen in a composite image taken by the James Webb Telescope and released by NASA on August 21, 2023. Physical features within suggest there may be a companion star helping to sculpt the layers thrown off by the dying star. || Photo : NASA
Spiral galaxy NGC 1512, located 30 million light-years away from Earth. Spiral galaxies, resembling enormous pinwheels, are a common galaxy type. Our Milky Way is one. || Photo : NASA
The "Cosmic Cliffs" of the Carina Nebula are seen in an image divided horizontally by an undulating line between a cloudscape forming a nebula along the bottom portion and a comparatively clear upper portion, with data from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. Speckled across both portions is a starfield, showing innumerable stars of many sizes. || Photo : NASA
A nearby planetary system is seen in detail in our first look at an asteroid belt outside our solar system in infrared light. Webb reveals there are actually 3 belts, including 2 never-before-seen inner belts, around the star of Fomalhaut. The 3 nested belts here extend out to 14 billion miles (23 billion km) from the star, 150 times the distance of Earth from our Sun. || Photo : NASA
The densely packed globular cluster known as NGC 2210, which is situated in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is seen in a composite image taken by the James Webb Telescope and released by NASA on December 8, 2023. The LMC lies about 157, 000 light-years from Earth, and is a so-called satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, meaning that the two galaxies are gravitationally bound. || Photo : NASA
A look at Sun-like stars being born in this detailed close-up of Rho Ophiuchi, the closest-star-forming region to Earth in a composite image taken by the James Webb Telescope and released by NASA on July 12, 2023. Dark, dense dust cocoons still-forming protostars, while an emerging stellar newborn (top center) shoots out two huge jets of molecular hydrogen. || Photo : NASA
A part of the Orion Nebula known as the Orion Bar is seen in a composite image taken by the James Webb Telescope and released by NASA on June 26, 2023. || Photo : NASA
An observation of a planetary nebula from the NIRCam instrument of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. || Photo : NASA
The Crab Nebula, the remains of an exploded star 6,500 light-years away, is seen in a composite image taken by the James Webb Telescope. || Photo : NASA
A group of five galaxies that appear close to each other in the sky: two in the middle, one toward the top, one to the upper left, and one toward the bottom are seen in a mosaic or composite of near and mid-infrared data from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. || Photo : NASA
A newborn star only a few tens of thousands of years old, with supersonic jets of gas spewing from its poles, is seen in a composite image taken by the James Webb Telescope. This specific Herbig-Haro object is called Herbig-Haro (HH) 211. At roughly 1,000 light-years away from Earth, HH 211 is one of the youngest and nearest objects of its type. || Photo : NASA
The James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021 and began collecting data in 2022, reshaping our understanding of the early universe.