:quality(85)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/3ALAO2WVDZFZPFV3QZT6W732AA.jpg)
“A dense wall of gas and dust resembles a huge winged creature, whose jaws are illuminated by a bright star as it rises through cosmic threads,” the French news agency reported. So space telescope James Webb Take the first pictures of Orion Nebulawhich left astronomers “fans”.
The nebula is located in the constellation Orion, 1,350 light-years from Earth, in a similar environment in which 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.
How were the pictures obtained?
The images were acquired as part of the Early Science Publishing Program and involved more than a hundred scientists in 18 countries, with institutions including France’s National Center for Scientific Research, Western Canada and the University of Michigan.
“We were surprised by the amazing images of the Orion Nebula,” an astrophysicist at Western Else University Peters said in a statement.
“These new observations allow us to better understand how massive stars transform the cloud of gas and dust from which they were born,” he added.
Large amounts of dust often obscure nebulae, making them difficult to see with visible-light telescopes such as the Hubble Space Telescope, Webb’s predecessor.
Meanwhile, Webb works mainly in the infrared spectrum, which penetrates through dust.
This allowed the detection of many remarkable structures at a distance of 40 astronomical units or the size of our solar system.
These structures include dense filaments of matter that can give rise to new generations of stars, as well as stellar systems consisting of a central protostar surrounded by a disk of dust and gas in which planets form.
“We hope to better understand the entire star birth cycle,” said Edwin Bergin, chair of the Department of Astronomy at the University of Michigan and a member of the international research team.
“In the images captured, we observe the cycle in which the first generation of stars radiates material for the next. The stunning structures will detail how the feedback loop of star birth occurs in our galaxy and beyond.”
What is the James Webb Telescope?
The researchers said Webb is the most powerful space telescope ever built, with a 6.5-meter primary mirror made up of 18 gold-plated hexagons and a five-layer solar cover the size of a tennis court.
“Beer enthusiast. Subtly charming alcohol junkie. Wannabe internet buff. Typical pop culture lover.”
More Stories
Boeing and NASA postpone Starliner takeoff again
Why should you not trust apps that promise to change the color of WhatsApp?
Hellblade II has released its new story-focused trailer