NASA‘s James Webb Space Telescope captured two new images of a star-forming region millions of light-years away from Earth.
The pair of images released on Saturday shows NGC 604 captured using the telescope’s near-infrared camera and mid-infrared instrument to showcase the “cavernous bubbles and stretched-out filaments of gas,” according to NASA.
Webb captured NGC 604 rolling out the red carpet for more than 200 new stars. Located in the Triangulum galaxy, this star-forming region contains the most massive and hottest types of stars — there is no analogous region within our own galaxy: https://t.co/9lTMgPkZ98 pic.twitter.com/w03HstOoez
— NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb) March 9, 2024
The warmer image, captured with the near-infrared camera, shows the bright red tendrils and clumps of emission that can be in the star-forming region.
“The bright orange-colored streaks in the Webb near-infrared image signify the presence of carbon-based molecules known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs. This material plays an important role in the interstellar medium and the formation of stars and planets, but its origin is a mystery,” NASA said in a blog post.
In the image of the cooler gas, there are fewer stars visible, but NASA said the image shows the “dynamic activity” in NGC 604.
As seen in mid-infrared light, large clouds of cooler dust and gas glow brightly. Fewer stars are visible because hot stars are fainter at these wavelengths, but some that can still be seen include red supergiants: cool, large stars hundreds of times the diameter of our Sun. pic.twitter.com/gVigQYQTDu
— NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb) March 9, 2024
“Webb’s view in mid-infrared wavelengths also illustrates a new perspective into the diverse and dynamic activity of this region,” NASA said. “In the MIRI view of NGC 604, there are noticeably fewer stars. This is because hot stars emit much less light at these wavelengths, while the larger clouds of cooler gas and dust glow.”
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The James Webb Space Telescope was launched into space by NASA in December 2021, and both NASA and the European Space Agency have released images from it since July 2022. Both agencies have touted the advanced capabilities and high-quality instruments on the telescope to help them explore the universe.
Scientists say the telescope has allowed them to understand the complexity of the many distant galaxies and their many unique features better. In the time since it was launched from Earth, the telescope has helped make several breakthroughs as researchers seek to understand the formation of the universe.
