The James Webb Space Telescope showed the birth of new stars in a photo (4 photos + 2 videos)
On the occasion of the first anniversary of scientific work, the space telescope "James Webb" sent an incredibly close-up of newborn stars in the most a region of star formation close to Earth.
In just one year, the James Webb Space Telescope changed the idea of mankind about space, for the first time looking into dust clouds and seeing light from distant corners of the universe, said NASA Representative Bill Nelson. - Each new image is a new one a discovery that allows scientists around the world to ask questions and receive answers that they once could not even dream of.
This is an image of the "nursery" of young stars Rho Ophiuchus, which is located at a distance of about 390 million light years from us. The telescope captured about 50 young stars thanks to the infrared camera. with a mass close to that of our Sun or less. Some have characteristic shadows of circumstellar disks are a sign that around them planets may eventually form.
Ro Ophiuchi
In the upper third of the image, huge jets of hydrogen are visible horizontally and vertically to the right.
"It happens when a star first breaks through its native shell of space dust, throwing into space a pair of oncoming jets, like a newborn, for the first time stretching its arms into the world, ” NASA said in a statement.
“A young star can be seen at the bottom of the image, which has enough energy to blow a bubble in a cloud dust and gas from which it was born. She does it thanks to the combination of its light and the stellar wind associated with it. interstellar the space is filled with gas and dust, which in turn serves as raw material for new stars and planets.
"Webb's depiction of Ro Ophiuchus allows us to new clarity to observe a very short period of the sidereal life cycle. Our own Sun has long gone through a similar phase, and now we have the technology to see the beginning of the story of another stars".
"Space Rocks" in the Carina Nebula
One of the first images sent by the James Webb telescope
The James Webb telescope was launched into space in December 2021. years, but it took a lot of time to deploy the mirror and enter apparatus into operation. Therefore, the anniversary of the start of scientific work telescope is marked only now.
His first full color image was submitted on 11 July 2022: This is the clearest image of the early universe yet existed 13 billion years ago. Then pictures were taken "space rocks" in the Carina Nebula and a group of five galaxies, bound in a heavenly dance called the Stephen Quintet.
"James Webb" boasts a main mirror the size of over 6.5 meters, consisting of 18 hexagonal segments with gold powder coating, as well as a five-layer sun visor the size of tennis court.
Unlike its predecessor Hubble, it operates in mostly in the infrared spectrum, which allows him to look closer to the beginning of time and it is better to penetrate the dust clouds, where today stars and planetary systems are formed.
Key discoveries include some of the earliest galaxies formed hundreds of millions of years after Big bang definition with unprecedented composition resolution atmospheres of planets outside our solar system, and stunning new views of the planet Jupiter.
Fuel "Webb" should be enough for 20 years, and this promises new era in astronomy. Soon to be joined in orbit the European space telescope Euclid, launched on July 1 to shed light on two of the greatest mysteries of the universe: dark energy and dark matter.