NASA has just released a new image sent by the James Webb Space Telescope. Last year, around this time, the first image captured by the well-known super telescope was released.
Now, Webb shows, in all its beauty, an area of 50 young stars clumped together in a cocoon of gas and dust, 390 light-years from Earth.
James Webb telescope shows stars 390 light-years away
James Webb is the largest existing infrared telescope and on December 25, 2021 it was launched, on a European Ariane 5 rocket, from French Guiana into deep space. Its mission is to search for the long-awaited answer about the origin of life and the formation of galaxies.
As it tries to successfully meet its goal, the super telescope captures images of all the phenomena that happen in space with a detail and detail that leaves everyone dazzled.
On July 11, 2022, the first image captured by Webb was revealed and now, to mark the one-year anniversary of that event, NASA is releasing another equally impressive image.
According to a NASA statement, this time the super telescope captured a region with “approximately 50 young stars, all similar in mass to the Sun.” This star cluster is the Rho Ophiuchi complex, which NASA says is a small, quiet, active cluster.
NASA explains that the darker areas of the image are still forming protostars that are shrouded in thick dust. But the highlight is for the S1 star that appears at the bottom of the image and that is characterized by being more massive than the Sun.
“Webb’s image of Rho Ophiuchi allows us to witness a very brief period in the stellar life cycle with new clarity. The Sun itself experienced a phase like this a long time ago, and we now have the right technology to see the beginning of another star’s history.”
The James Webb Super Telescope has enough fuel to spend another 20 years “up there” sending back images like the one now published. And best of all, it will soon be joined by the European Euclid Space Telescope, which has already been launched into space.