NASA’sJames Webb Space Telescope‘s first anniversary image showcases star birth in the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, the closest star-forming region toEarth. The chaotic close-up captures jets bursting from young stars, impacting interstellar gas and molecular hydrogen. Some stars display the telltale shadow of a circumstellar disk, making up future planetary systems.
NASA’sJamesWebbSpaceTelescope has successfully revealed the universe in its first year of science operations, revealing a small star-forming region in the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex. The telescope’s image celebrates its successful first year, revealing the universe like never before. New Webb image captures 390 Light-years of star-forming region, providing detailed close-up without foreground stars, revealing the nearest star-forming region.
Webb’s image depicts a region with 50 young stars, all similar in mass to the Sun or smaller. The darkest areas are densest, where thick dust cocoons protostars. The image is dominated by huge bipolar jets of molecular hydrogen, represented in red, which occur when a star bursts through its cosmic dust envelope.