💥 A Cosmic Double-Bladed Lightsaber! 💫

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has captured an astonishing view of enormous jets of blazing gas erupting from a massive young star — a scene straight out of a galactic saga! These colossal jets, stretching 8 light-years across, resemble a cosmic double-bladed lightsaber, cutting through the interstellar darkness. ⚔️

At the heart of this spectacular sight is a newborn star, already 10 times more massive than our Sun. Despite its youth, it’s unleashing torrents of material at hundreds of thousands of miles per hour. As the star forms, gas falls inward — but magnetic forces channel some of that energy outward along its spin axis, creating these stunning twin jets of seething plasma.

🌟 Why this discovery matters:
Astronomers have long debated how massive stars form.

One theory suggests they grow through a stable disk of gas and dust — and the perfectly opposite alignment (180° apart) of these jets supports that idea.

The competing theory argues for a more chaotic process, which would cause twisting or misaligned jets.

Webb’s crisp infrared vision also shows fine filaments, knots, and bow shocks, where the jet material slams into interstellar gas — like cosmic shockwaves frozen in time.

💫 Did you know?
The tips of the jets tell a story of their own — they were once part of the star’s inner region before being flung into space!
And because this protostar lies twice as far from the galactic center as we are, in a region poor in heavy elements, it gives astronomers a rare chance to study how early-universe stars might have formed under similar conditions.

In essence, Webb just gave us a front-row seat to stellar creation in action, on a scale few have ever witnessed. 🌌

📖 Read more: https://science.nasa.gov/missi....ts-of-our-milky-way/

📸 Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Yu Cheng (NAOJ)

#nasa #jwst #webbtelescope #starformation #astronomy #milkyway #cosmicjets #science #spaceexploration #universe

Somethin’ Out of the Ordinary — A Cosmic Nursery Near Our Galactic Heart

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has captured something truly extraordinary — a stunning view of Sagittarius B2 (Sgr B2), the most massive and active star-forming region in our Milky Way galaxy.

Located just a few hundred light years away from our supermassive black hole (Sagittarius A*), Sgr B2 is a cosmic powerhouse. Although it contains only 10% of the gas found in the entire galactic center, it astonishingly produces 50% of its stars. Astronomers are now trying to understand why this region is so explosively active.

Even Webb’s ultra-sensitive infrared instruments, capable of peering through thick dust and gas, meet their limits here — parts of Sgr B2 are so dense that even Webb can’t see through them. These dark, opaque regions are where new stars are being born, wrapped in cocoons of dust — too young yet to shine.

✨ What Webb Revealed:

Top Image (Near-Infrared View): A dazzling sea of colorful stars fills the frame, each one revealed through Webb’s ability to pierce dusty regions that once hid them from view.

Bottom Image (Mid-Infrared View): A glowing tapestry of cosmic dust appears, heated by newborn massive stars. Here, the bright stars fade, replaced by rich swirls of red, magenta, and blue — revealing the hidden architecture of star formation.

Astronomers will now study these stars’ masses, ages, and evolution, seeking to unlock the mystery of why Sgr B2 forms stars so much faster than anywhere else near the galaxy’s core.

🔭 This breathtaking glimpse reminds us that even in regions of darkness and obscurity, new light is always forming — the very process that shapes the cosmos itself.

📖 Read more: https://go.nasa.gov/3W7oCcw

📸 Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Adam Ginsburg (University of Florida), Nazar Budaiev (University of Florida), Taehwa Yoo (University of Florida); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

🪐 Image Description: Two images of space. One image depicts a swirling patch of red and magenta clouds, with bright blue, six-pointed spots shining through. In the other image is seen in shades of orange, but the stars are much more numerous, filling the scene almost completely.

#nasa #jwst #webbtelescope #sagittariusb2 #starformation #astronomy #cosmos #universe #spaceexploration

Webb took a look at “starburst” galaxy NGC 4449, located 12.5 million light years away. Starbursts are intense periods of star formation usually concentrated at a galaxy’s core, but NGC 4449’s activity is much more widespread — likely due to past interactions with its galactic neighbors.

Observing in both near- and mid-infrared light, Webb reveals incredible detail. Individual stars are seen as bright blue spots. The diffuse blue gradient at the core shows the distribution of older stars, while young star clusters, glowing yellow, are concentrated at the edges. Orange-red areas indicate the distribution of carbon-based compounds; red corresponds to hydrogen-rich regions.

Astronomers can study NGC 4449 to peek into the past. This galaxy is similar to early star-forming galaxies, which also grew by merging with other systems.

Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, A. Adamo (Stockholm University) and the FEAST JWST team
#universe #nasa #jwst #webb #telescope

Twin. Where have you been?

When you find someone who complements your wavelengths, nobody knows you like they do. Here’s a throwback to when Webb's infrared data was combined with ultraviolet and visible-light data from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope for a more comprehensive view of galaxy pair VV 191.

Webb’s new data traced light from the bright elliptical galaxy (left) through the winding spiral galaxy (right), allowing astronomers to investigate the effects of interstellar dust in the latter. Webb also revealed a faint red arc at the center of the left galaxy to be a very distant galaxy, magnified and warped in appearance by the gravity of the elliptical galaxy!

Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Rogier Windhorst (ASU), William Keel (University of Alabama), Stuart Wyithe (University of Melbourne), JWST PEARLS Team

#universe #nasa #jwst #webb #telescope

Here’s your golden ticket to the star factory 🌟

Located approximately 35 million light-years away, NGC 1559 is a barred spiral galaxy. Its massive arms are abound with star formation.

In this image, Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument captures the glow of interstellar dust grains, while its Near-Infrared Camera shows the light from stars — even young stars hidden behind vast amounts of dust.

Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, A. Leroy, J. Lee and the PHANGS Team

#universe #nasa #jwst #webb #telescope