NASA Shared: Newborn Stars Spotted For the First Time
The American Space and Aviation Administration’s (NASA) James Webb Telescope has succeeded in imaging newly formed stars for the first time in a galaxy near the Milky Way. Scientists stated that this could not be done with previous technology, and explained that James Webb was a turning point in studies on the evolution of stars.
A new image taken by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) clearly shows young stars around spiral galaxy NGC 1433.
The image was taken as part of a collaboration with High Angular Resolution Physics in Near Galaxies (PHANGS), which includes more than 100 researchers worldwide.
However, one of the James Webb Space Telescope’s first science programs is to image 19 spiral galaxies for PHANGS with the Intermediate Infrared Instrument (MIRI), neutralizing clouds of gas and dust that cannot be crossed with other types of imaging.
“The PHANGS team used NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, and the Very Large Telescope’s Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer to optically locate these galaxies,” said Adam Leroy, a PHANGS team member at Ohio State University. “He spent years observing radio and ultraviolet wavelengths. However, the early stages of a star’s life cycle were out of sight as the process was obscured by clouds of gas and dust.” said.
The scientists stressed that James Webb’s image of NGC 1433 is a powerful indicator of how dynamic processes associated with star formation affect the larger structure of an entire galaxy.
On the other hand, the researchers said that a bright core with a double ring structure at the center of the galaxy can be seen in great detail with Webb’s extreme resolution.
The researchers published their findings in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
ABOUT JAMES WEBB TELESCOPE
NASA launched the world’s largest and most advanced space telescope, James Webb, into space on December 25, 2021.
The product of NASA’s collaboration with the European and Canadian space agencies, Webb is seen as the successor to the largest and most powerful Hubble Space Telescope, which is 31 years old and is nearing the end of its working life.
