James Webb captures the dazzling brilliance of a ‘star factory’

Recently, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) collected data from a galaxy neighboring the Milky Way and A striking ‘star factory’ filled with interstellar atomic hydrogen revealed. The cosmic object was photographed using data collected by the mid-infrared instrument (MIRI) and offers a visual spectacle filled with color.

The United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) explains that the ‘star factory’ is located in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a dwarf galaxy orbiting the Milky Way. This is the nebula known as N79; It is a large star-forming complex with an extension of approximately 1,630 light-years; It is located in the southwestern region of LMC.

Analysis of these results aims to assist researchers. Learn more about the composition of cosmic clouds of gas and dust that were responsible for the formation of stars in the early universe. Scientists explain that the image is centered on one of three giant molecular cloud complexes known as N79 South (S1).

“This nebula, known as N79, is a region of ionized interstellar atomic hydrogen captured here by Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI). N79 is generally considered a younger version of 30 Doradus (also known as the Tarantula Nebula), another of Webb’s recent targets. “The research shows that N79 has had a star formation efficiency twice as high as that of 30 Doradus over the last 500,000 years,” NASA explains in an official release.

Star Factory: N79

The image also reveals a distinctive starburst pattern with a series of diffraction spikes. Generally, Patterns like these are detected around compact and extremely bright objects.

Researchers say these regions are interesting for studying the chemical composition of star-forming environments that occurred when the universe was only a few million years old.

Cheese too! A zoomed portion of this image has been processed #Dark light filters. pic.twitter.com/DGEvHXAJ6s

— Kelly Swanson (@kellysswanson) January 23, 2024

The new observations are part of the James Webb program, which aims to study the evolution of disks and circumstellar envelopes of stars forming in different regions, according to NASA. The telescope’s instruments help scientists understand the wide range of masses in different stages of evolution of these star-forming environments.

“The Webb now offers astronomers the opportunity to compare and contrast observations of star formation in N79 with the telescope’s deep observations of distant galaxies in the early Universe. Webb’s sensitivity will allow scientists to detect, for the first time, dust disks forming planets around stars with masses similar to our Sun, at the distance of the Large Magellanic Cloud,” concludes NASA.

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