Back in July, the long wait for the first full-color images of the Universe gathered by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was finally over. The Carina Nebula is one of the several cosmic structures that were photographed by the advanced gear that Webb is carrying.
Webb made it possible to see Carina Nebula’s Cosmic Cliffs in a new wavelength. It has been revealed due to molecular hydrogen the presence of two dozen outflows coming from newborn stars, according to Fox News. Molecular hydrogen is an extremely important component when it comes to stellar formation.
8,500 light-years away
The Carina Nebula, which is also known as the Eta Carinae Nebula, NGC 3372, or the Great Carina Nebula, is located in the constellation Carina. The nebula is also located about 8,500 light-years away from Earth. To be more precise, the location is also set in the Carina-Sagittarius Arm of our Milky Way galaxy.
So-called ‘small fountains,’ as well as ‘burbling behemoths’ extending light-years from the forming stars, were discovered.
NASA explained:
Molecular hydrogen is a vital ingredient for making new stars and an excellent tracer of the early stages of their formation. As young stars gather material from the gas and dust that surround them, most also eject a fraction of that material back out again from their polar regions in jets and outflows. These jets then act like a snowplow, bulldozing into the surrounding environment. Visible in Webb’s observations is the molecular hydrogen getting swept up and excited by these jets.
After numerous delays, NASA launched the James Webb Telescope into space last Christmas. The telescope is considered the successor of Hubble, the previous-gen telescope that has been in the Earth’s orbit for over three decades.
Astronomers aim to use Webb to look at the most distant stars in greater detail than ever before, so stay tuned for more news on the subject!
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