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. Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Klaus Pontoppidan (STScI)
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From our cosmic backyard in the
solar system to distant galaxies near the dawn of time, NASA’s James Webb Space
Telescope has delivered on its promise of revealing the universe like never
before in its first year of science operations. To celebrate the completion of
a successful first year, NASA has released Webb’s image of a small star-forming
region in the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex.
“In just one year, the James Webb
Space Telescope has transformed humanity’s view of the cosmos, peering into
dust clouds and seeing light from faraway corners of the universe for the very
first time. Every new image is a new discovery, empowering scientists around
the globe to ask and answer questions they once could never dream of,” said
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “Webb is an investment in American innovation
but also a scientific feat made possible with NASA’s international partners
that share a can-do spirit to push the boundaries of what is known to be
possible. Thousands of engineers, scientists, and leaders poured their life’s
passion into this mission, and their efforts will continue to improve our
understanding of the origins of the universe – and our place in it.”
The new Webb image released today
features the nearest star-forming region to us. Its proximity at 390
light-years allows for a highly detailed close-up, with no foreground stars in
the intervening space.
“On its first anniversary, the
James Webb Space Telescope has already delivered upon its promise to unfold the
universe, gifting humanity with a breathtaking treasure trove of images and
science that will last for decades,” said Nicola Fox, associate administrator
of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. “An engineering marvel
built by the world’s leading scientists and engineers, Webb has given us a more
intricate understanding of galaxies, stars, and the atmospheres of planets
outside of our solar system than ever before, laying the groundwork for NASA to
lead the world in a new era of scientific discovery and the search for
habitable worlds.”
Webb’s image shows a region
containing approximately 50 young stars, all of them similar in mass to the
Sun, or smaller. The darkest areas are the densest, where thick dust cocoons
still-forming protostars. Huge bipolar jets of molecular hydrogen, represented
in red, dominate the image, appearing horizontally across the upper third and
vertically on the right. These occur when a star first bursts through its natal
envelope of cosmic dust, shooting out a pair of opposing jets into space like a
newborn first stretching her arms out into the world. In contrast, the star S1
has carved out a glowing cave of dust in the lower half of the image. It is the
only star in the image that is significantly more massive than the Sun.
“Webb’s image of Rho Ophiuchi
allows us to witness a very brief period in the stellar lifecycle with new
clarity. Our own Sun experienced a phase like this, long ago, and now we have
the technology to see the beginning of another’s star’s story,” said Klaus
Pontoppidan, who served as Webb project scientist at the Space Telescope
Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, since before the telescope’s launch
and through the first year of operations.
Some stars in the image display tell-tale shadows indicating protoplanetary disks – potential future planetary systems in the making.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has produced the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe to date. Known as Webb’s First Deep Field, this image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 is overflowing with detail.Thousands of galaxies – including the faintest objects ever observed in the infrared – have appeared in Webb’s view for the first time. Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI
https://www.nasa.gov/webbfirstimages
A Full Year,
Across the Full Sky
From its very first deep field image, unveiled by President Joe Biden, Vice
President Kamala Harris, and Nelson live at the White House,
Webb has delivered on its promise to show us more of the universe than ever
before. However, Webb revealed much more than distant galaxies in the early universe.
“The breadth of science Webb is capable of
exploring really becomes clear now, when we have a full year’s worth of data
from targets across the sky,” said Eric Smith, associate director for research in
the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters and Webb program scientist.
“Webb’s first year of science has not only taught us new things about our
universe, but it has revealed the capabilities of the telescope to be greater
than our expectations, meaning future discoveries will be even more amazing.”
The global astronomy community has spent the past year excitedly poring over Webb’s initial public data and
getting a feel for how to work with it.
Beyond the stunning infrared images, what really has scientists excited are
Webb’s crisp spectra – the detailed information that can be gleaned
from light by the telescope’s spectroscopic instruments. Webb’s spectra have confirmed the
distances of some of the farthest galaxies ever observed, and have discovered
the earliest, most distant supermassive black holes. They have identified the
compositions of planet atmospheres (or lack thereof) with more detail than ever
before, and have narrowed down what kinds of atmospheres may exist on rocky
exoplanets for the first time. They also have revealed the chemical makeup of
stellar nurseries and protoplanetary disks, detecting water, organic
carbon-containing molecules, and more. Already, Webb observations have resulted
in hundreds of scientific papers answering longstanding questions and raising
new ones to address with Webb.
The breadth of Webb science is also
apparent in its observations of the region of space we are most familiar with – our own solar system. Faint rings of gas giants appear out of
the darkness, dotted by moons, while in the background Webb shows distant
galaxies. By comparing detections of water and other molecules in our solar
system with those found in the disks of other, much younger planetary systems,
Webb is helping to build up clues about our own origins – how Earth became the
ideal place for life as we know it.
"With a year of science under our
belts, we know exactly how powerful this telescope is, and have delivered a
year of spectacular data and discoveries,” said Webb Senior Project Scientist
Jane Rigby of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. “We've selected an ambitious
set of observations for year two — that builds on everything
we've learned so far. Webb's science mission is just getting started — there's
so much more to come."
The
James Webb Space Telescope is the world's premier space science observatory.
Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds
around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our
universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with
its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency.
Source: Webb Celebrates First Year of Science With New Image | NASA
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