An international research team on Monday revealed the first images of the Orion Nebula captured by the James Webb Space Telescope, leaving astronomers “in the wind.”
The stellar arboretum is located in the constellation of Orion, 1350 light-years from Earth, in a similar place where our solar system was born more than 4.5 billion years ago.
Astronomers are interested in the region in order to better understand what happened during the first million years of our planet’s evolution.
The images were acquired as part of the Early Science Dissemination Program and involved more than 100 scientists in 18 countries, with institutions including the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), Western University in Canada, and the University of Michigan.
“We were stunned by the stunning images of the Orion Nebula,” astrophysicist Western Els University Peters said in a statement.
“These new observations allow us to better understand how massive stars transform the gas and dust cloud in which they were born,” she added.
Large amounts of dust obscure the nebulae that made them impossible to observe with visible-light telescopes, such as the Hubble Space Telescope, Webb’s predecessor.
However, Webb works mainly in the infrared spectrum, where dust penetrates.
This revealed many amazing structures, down to the scale of 40 astronomical units, or the size of our solar system.
These include dense filaments of matter, which can give birth to new generations of stars, as well as the formation of stellar systems consisting of a central protostar surrounded by a disk of dust and gas, in which planets are formed.
“We hope to gain an understanding of the full cycle of star birth,” said Edwin Bergin, University of Michigan president of astronomy and a member of the international research team.
“In this image we’re looking at this cycle where the first generation of stars essentially radiates matter to the next. The amazing structures we’re observing will explain in detail how the stellar birth feedback cycle happens in our galaxy and beyond.”
Webb is the most powerful space telescope ever built, featuring a 6.5-meter (over 21-foot) primary mirror made up of 18 gold-plated hexagons, as well as a five-layer sunscreen the size of a tennis court. .An international research team has revealed the first images of the Orion Nebula captured by the James Webb Space Telescope, leaving astronomers “in a daze”
Washington (AFP) – The thick wall of gas and dust resembles a gigantic winged creature lit by a bright star as it soars through cosmic filaments.An international research team on Monday revealed the first images of the Orion Nebula captured by the James Webb Space Telescope, leaving astronomers “in the wind.”
The stellar arboretum is located in the constellation of Orion, 1350 light-years from Earth, in a similar place where our solar system was born more than 4.5 billion years ago.Astronomers are interested in the region in order to better understand what happened during the first million years of our planet’s evolution.
The images were acquired as part of the Early Science Dissemination Program and involved more than 100 scientists in 18 countries, with institutions including the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), Western University in Canada, and the University of Michigan.
“We were stunned by the stunning images of the Orion Nebula,” astrophysicist Western Els University Peters said in a statement.
“These new observations allow us to better understand how massive stars transform the gas and dust cloud in which they were born,” she added.
Large amounts of dust obscure the nebulae that made them impossible to observe with visible-light telescopes, such as the Hubble Space Telescope, Webb’s predecessor.
However, Webb works mainly in the infrared spectrum, where dust penetrates.
This revealed many amazing structures, down to the scale of 40 astronomical units, or the size of our solar system.
These include dense filaments of matter, which can give birth to new generations of stars, as well as the formation of stellar systems consisting of a central protostar surrounded by a disk of dust and gas, in which planets are formed.
“We hope to gain an understanding of the full cycle of star birth,” said Edwin Bergin, University of Michigan president of astronomy and a member of the international research team.
“In this image we’re looking at this cycle where the first generation of stars essentially radiates matter to the next. The amazing structures we’re observing will explain in detail how the stellar birth feedback cycle happens in our galaxy and beyond.”
Webb is the most powerful space telescope ever built, featuring a 6.5-meter (over 21-foot) primary mirror made up of 18 gold-plated hexagons, as well as a five-layer sunscreen the size of a tennis court. .