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Caption The first anniversary image from NASA?s James Webb Space Telescope displays star birth like it?s never been seen before, full of detailed, impressionistic texture. The subject is the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, the closest star-forming region to Earth. It is a relatively small, quiet stellar nursery, but you?d never know it from Webb?s chaotic close-up. Jets bursting from young stars crisscross the image, impacting the surrounding interstellar gas and lighting up molecular hydrogen, shown in red. Some stars display the telltale shadow of a circumstellar disk, the makings of future planetary systems. The young stars at the center of many of these disks are similar in mass to the Sun, or smaller. The heftiest in this image is the star S1, which appears amid a glowing cave it is carving out with its stellar winds in the lower half of the image. The lighter-colored gas surrounding S1 consists of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, a family of carbon-based molecules that are among the most common compounds found in space. For more detail on what is happening where in Webb?s image of Rho Ophiuchi, watch the video tour and read the press release. Credits Image NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Klaus Pontoppidan (STScI) Image Processing Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

Space

JWST celebrates first year of science with awesome star-forming image

After a year of producing incredible imagery, the James Webb Space Telescope team has released a picture of the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, Earth's closest star-forming region

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James Webb Space Telescope images

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The 8 most dazzling images from JWST’s first year of science

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We must address a key obstacle to our new age of space exploration

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We must address a key obstacle to our new age of space exploration

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The best new science fiction books of July 2023

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The best new science fiction books of July 2023

Culture

JWST image of Saturn

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Stunning JWST image sees Saturn show off its glowing rings

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What looks much like craggy mountains on a moonlit evening is actually the edge of a nearby, young, star-forming region NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula. Captured in infrared light by the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) on NASA???s James Webb Space Telescope, this image reveals previously obscured areas of star birth. Called the Cosmic Cliffs, the region is actually the edge of a gigantic, gaseous cavity within NGC 3324, roughly 7,600 light-years away. The cavernous area has been carved from the nebula by the intense ultraviolet radiation and stellar winds from extremely massive, hot, young stars located in the center of the bubble, above the area shown in this image. The high-energy radiation from these stars is sculpting the nebula???s wall by slowly eroding it away. NIRCam ??? with its crisp resolution and unparalleled sensitivity ??? unveils hundreds of previously hidden stars, and even numerous background galaxies. Several prominent features in this image are described below. ??? The ???steam??? that appears to rise from the celestial ???mountains??? is actually hot, ionized gas and hot dust streaming away from the nebula due to intense, ultraviolet radiation. ??? Dramatic pillars rise above the glowing wall of gas, resisting the blistering ultraviolet radiation from the young stars. ??? Bubbles and cavities are being blown by the intense radiation and stellar winds of newborn stars. ??? Protostellar jets and outflows, which appear in gold, shoot from dust-enshrouded, nascent stars. ??? A ???blow-out??? erupts at the top-center of the ridge, spewing gas and dust into the interstellar medium. ??? An unusual ???arch??? appears, looking like a bent-over cylinder. This period of very early star formation is difficult to capture because, for an individual star, it lasts only about 50,000 to 100,000 years ??? but Webb???s extreme sensitivity and exquisite spatial resolution have chronicled this rare event. Located roughly 7,600 light-years away, NGC 3324 was first cat

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The JWST is already delivering on its promise to transform cosmology

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What the huge young galaxies seen by JWST tell us about the universe

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What the huge young galaxies seen by JWST tell us about the universe

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Humans could bring microbes into space

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Space germs: How can we avoid contaminating other worlds?

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Space

Planned moon landings could pelt orbiting spacecraft with dusty debris

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JWST has spotted a water vapor plume shooting out from the southern pole of Saturn’s moon Enceladus

Space

JWST has spotted an enormous plume of water coming out of Enceladus

Saturn’s moon Enceladus has a water ocean that makes it one of the most promising places to search for life, and water is spewing out of it in a jet bigger than any we have seen before

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Space

NASA’s UFO team discusses its findings publicly for the first time

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Space

We are finally closing in on the cosmic origins of the “OMG particle”

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Space

Lab imitations of the unobservable cosmos can be genuinely insightful

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Space

Why sending messages to extraterrestrials is controversial

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