NASA Webb Telescope

Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble 🧙‍♀️ This turbulent cauldron of star formation, N159, resides about 161,000 light years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud, one of the satellite galaxies orbiting our Milky Way. t.co/qJTDi5noN0 🔗 esawebb.org/images/potm2610a/

This region has a lower metallicity (proportion of elements that are heavier than helium and hydrogen) than our Milky Way, revealing more about how stars formed in the conditions of the early universe.

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) - enigmatic, millisecond-long flashes of radio emission from the distant universe - were first discovered in 2007. Their origins are difficult to pinpoint, but Webb found the host galaxy to the most distant FRB seen to date. t.co/nd2NQqrRdX 🔗 go.nasa.gov/4emggqZ

Happy World Space Week! If you're searching up space facts today, you might run into our newest image! 👇 🔗 Google.com

Brewing up new stars 🪄 Webb’s unique view of the stellar nursery known as NGC 7129 reveals numerous stars formerly hidden in this cosmic cauldron, helping astronomers study the star lifecycle in more depth. t.co/JZwya3QLUR 🔗 go.nasa.gov/4y9abFE

They say planet formation’s a cruel endeavor Violent collisions, like that between a proto-Earth and a Mars-sized object named Theia 4.5 billion years ago, shaped our home planet. Webb is helping compare other young stellar systems to our own. t.co/Chc49miHrh 🔗 go.nasa.gov/4rL1UpN

Silica-rich debris disks seem to be produced by high-energy impacts between Mars-sized bodies around younger stars. Silica-poor ones might be formed by smaller scale collisions across a range of ages, which is likely why they vary in brightness.

Our solar system might have experienced more than one extreme debris disk phase, like when the Earth, with its silica-rich crust, was formed by a giant collision. The gas giants migrating outward may have disrupted smaller bodies, generating dust-rich conditions.

As a star ages, its environment changes. Material in its gas-rich protoplanetary disk form planetesimals, which can then create planets and moons, eventually leaving a gas-poor disk of debris analogous to the debris in our own solar system's asteroid and Kuiper belt.

Some stars that have a lot of warm dust close-in re very bright in the infrared - a rare subclass called “extreme debris disks.” Discovered by Spitzer, Webb confirmed that extreme debris disks vary in brightness, have smaller dust grains, and a high concentration of warm dust.

Seeing double… or quadruple! 👀 In this Webb image of galaxy cluster MACS J0454.1-0300, gravitational lensing shows us 4 or more images of the same galaxy. This is the first time researchers have spotted this more than once in the same galaxy cluster! t.co/5K4uMG... 🔗 esawebb.org/images/potm2609a/

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The brilliant golden galaxies visible in this image make up galaxy cluster MACS J0454.1-0300, but the orange galaxies are much farther away. Gravitational lensing occurs in this image due to the enormous mass of those golden galaxies. They bend and magnify the flight of the more distant orange ga...

On the left here is @NASAHubble’s 2014 image of galaxy cluster MACS J0454.1-0300. It shows quite a different scene. Because Webb is more sensitive to redder light, we are able to see hundreds more galaxies in the same scene.

Free downloadable mini poster of Webb's look at Centaurus A! t.co/EiH4etrbG9 🔗 science.nasa.gov/asset/webb...

Within this star-forming nebula (captured by Webb) are the smallest brown dwarfs ever detected. Neither planet nor star, these objects are formed like stars, raising questions about the star formation process. t.co/s58sxdx1dl 🔗 go.nasa.gov/4y7RVwU

Within is also a unique perspective on protostars, a few of which can be seen in the upper-right. They are ejecting powerful jets that have crashed into the gas and dust surrounding them, creating luminous regions called Herbig-Haro objects.

go.nasa.govStar-forming region IC 348 (NIRCam image)Star-forming region IC 348 (NIRCam image)

This panorama is one of Webb’s largest images to date. You can download the full size (6.6GB) file here:

Adding to their strangeness, one of these tiny brown dwarfs showed signs of a disk, suggesting small planets could be forming around an object that itself is only the mass of a planet.

go.nasa.govNASA’s Hubble, Webb Find Far-out Solar System Objects ‘Remember’ Past - NASA ScienceScientists used NASA’s Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes to study distant bodies in our solar system, Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs).

8 Sept

Scientists used Webb and @NASAHubble to study some of the most far-flung bodies in our solar system, Trans-Neptunian Objects, unexpectedly finding that the number and colors followed the same relationships as their larger family members. More: t.co/Z1GtQHZ2SP

“Being a star just means that you just find your own special place and that you shine where you are.” - Dolly Parton ✨ An irregular galaxy might seem like an odd place for so many new stars to shine, yet multitudes are forming within the gas that crowds Arp 263.

The brightest star with its long diffraction spikes created by the telescope’s optics, is actually not part of this galaxy. It sits in the foreground within our own galaxy.

esawebb.orgStriking star clusters and irregular clumpsStriking star clusters and irregular clumps

Webb’s observations will be used to better understand the cycle of star formation and how it plays out across galaxies; Arp 263, with its disturbed disc of gas and its chaotic star formation, presents a unique and fascinating target for these investigations.

It is thought that the irregular appearance of Arp 263 is actually due to a galactic merger. Galactic mergers cause gas and dust to crash together, and that process creates stars.

In the infrared, dust spread throughout the galaxy glows with the light, here shown in red, emitted by complex molecules; around the star-forming regions we also see, in blue colors, hydrogen gas, ionized by starlight and emitting its own light in turn.

How close is too close to a black hole? Asking for a friend. 😬 Webb just revealed dust and water surviving in the extreme environment of a star located near our Milky Way's supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*! t.co/GVqMLs39gn 🔗 esawebb.org/images/weic2617d/

Webb’s mid-infrared data revealed the clear signature of oxygen-rich silicate dust, as well as, for the first time, water, in IRS 3’s dust envelope. Even under the harsh conditions of its environment, stars can produce dust, which will help create future generations of stars!

esawebb.orgWebb reveals dust and water surviving in the extreme environment around the Milky Way’s central blacUsing the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, an international team of astronomers have discovered that dust and water can form and survive surprisingly close to the supermassive black hole at th

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IRS 3 is a star near the end of its life cycle, located just over half a light year away from Sgr A*. Similar huge, cool, luminous stars shed dust-producing gas with their powerful stellar winds. But do stars so close to a supermassive black hole produce dust?

What animal do you see in this Webb image?! A bird? An elephant? A giraffe? Let your imagination run wild! This is Webb’s infrared view of part of the Carina Nebula, a star-forming region also home to the Cosmic Cliffs, which was one of the first images released by Webb.

Just outside the field of view, just 39 light years away, is Eta Carinae, a well-known star system containing at least two stars, one of which is 100 times more massive than the Sun - and 5 million times more luminous.

esawebb.orgWebb opens a Treasure Chest filled with starsWebb opens a Treasure Chest filled with stars

Between massive stars external to the nebula, as well as the ones buried within, the dust and gasses for the Carina Nebula's "Treasure Chest" are being carved out by stellar radiation and winds. Read more:

Here Webb captures a different aspect of Carina, a feature called the “Treasure Chest,” which is an object known as a cometary globule. A cometary globule is an isolated cloud of gas and dust with a dense, dark head and a sweeping tail.

Cometary Globules often somewhat resemble comets, but the Treasure Chest looks distinctly like a wooden chest with its lid wide open…or the plumes of a space chicken! Inside is a compact cluster of young, massive stars, some of which have disks that may one day produce planets.

10 Aug

It's the circle of life… Webb's look at the Lion Nebula, the remains of a dying lower-mass star, is in both the mid and near-infrared. Though massive stars undergo supernova explosions at the end of their lives, lower-mass stars shed their outer layers.

10 Aug

In the Lion Nebula’s case, its white dwarf is “cooking” everything from the inside and producing a bubble of ionized gas as it does. The gas bubble, which forms the lion’s face, is expanding over time and destroying dust that is in its path.

10 Aug

Understanding why the swept-up gas has a complex structure of rings and shells, a common feature in nebula of this kind, is an ongoing endeavor. t.co/NLuNLoVZAk (This view is Webb's Lion Nebula in mid-infrared light alone.) 🔗 go.nasa.gov/4q7swQV

4 Aug

Technical Trivia: Which of these techniques involve placing a specially designed mask with several small pinholes in the light path through a telescope? A: Coronagraphy B: Aperture masking interferometry C: Integral Field Unit Spectroscopy D: Multi-Object Spectroscopy

go.nasa.govWebb Unravels Small Cosmic Details With Interferometry Observing Mode - NASA ScienceOne of the most recognizable features of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is its large, segmented, gold-coated mirror, which delivers images twice as sharp

4 Aug

B is correct, aperture masking interferometry! This observational technique allowed science teams to make detailed and unique observations of the massive binary star system Wolf-Rayet 137; PDS 70, a young, Sun-like star; and Jupiter’s moon Io.

Who doesn't love a good mystery?! 🔍🔴 Little Red Dots (LRD), first detected by Webb, are very distant, seemed to emerge ~600 million years/mysteriously decline by ~1.5 billion years post-big bang. What if they didn’t disappear, they just evolved? t.co/wjGjkeZYE7 🔗 go.nasa.gov/4h44W5g

Because it is closer and easier to observe, we can see the host galaxy in detail. But if this particular object were as distant as the LRD, would it still look like one? At a higher simulated redshift, the host galaxy’s structure fades, and it looks just like a Little Red Dot.

LRDs might have a host galaxy, they are just too dim for us to see, even with Webb. Astronomers will be looking for other lower-redshift Saguaro-like galaxies, as well as building a census of other LRDs, to help us build a more complete picture of these objects.

Researchers used Webb (infrared), Hubble (ultraviolet), and Chandra (X-rays) to look at a spiral galaxy that existed 3.3 billion years after the big bang with a Little Red Dot-like center. The galaxy’s central compact object fits the criteria for an LRD though it is nearer-by.

21 July

In about 40 minutes!! 🔗 twitter.com/i/status/207958...

youtube.comyoutube.com — VJakMxRPfw0Read more on youtube.com

21 July

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Wake up, babe! There’s a new planet around Beta Pictoris! Webb spotted a new giant planet hiding in one of the most studied planetary systems in our galaxy. t.co/WDsrOd2kpA 🔗 science.nasa.gov/missions/w...

Why wasn’t this found sooner? Beta Pic’s debris disk is really bright and scatters light from the star, making it hard to tell planets from other structures. Webb effectively ignored the dust and was able to hone in on the signature of the planet.

The researchers plan to continue analyzing Webb's observations to better determine the planet's temperature, atmospheric composition, and orbit, providing an even more detailed view of one of astronomy's most iconic planetary systems.

Beta Pic d is likely twice the mass of Jupiter, and the smallest of the three known giant planets in this system. It orbits at a distance of about 30 astronomical units, putting it somewhere around where Neptune is located in our own system.

Beta Pic d was found while studying the atmosphere of Beta Pic b. An unexpected blob was spotted with the distinctive signature of carbon monoxide. The object’s speed, position, and alignment with the debris disk of the star made it clear it's not just a background object.