The Breathtaking Photography of the James Webb Telescope
The James Webb Telescope’s phenomenal image capturing continues. Astonishingly, the space telescope recently photographed the largest region of star formation within the Small Magellanic Cloud, one of the Milky Way’s most well-known satellite systems
Exploring the Small Magellanic Cloud
The Small Magellanic Cloud is a dwarf galaxy with a diameter of roughly 7,000 light-years. The mass of the satellite system is approximately seven billion times that of the sun. Located about 200,000 light-years away from the Milky Way, it neighbors the Large Magellanic Cloud. In 2018, astronomers discovered that these two galaxies had collided a few hundred million years ago. Evidence supporting this theory stems from noticing stars in the wing of the Small Magellanic Cloud slowly drifting away in the same direction.
NGC 346 in Focus: A Young Star Cluster
The snapshot below from the James Webb captures NGC 346. Many stars in this open star cluster are notably young; they are a mere few million years old. The nebula resembles a spider’s web. This is due to the distribution of glowing gas by solar winds and the light of massive stars. In the picture below, the warm gas is colored red. The dusty threads of the spider’s web consist of cold, molecular dust at a temperature of -200 degrees Celsius, which is where most new stars are born.
Spotting a Star Being Born
If you take a closer look, a small arc can be seen at the nebula’s center. This is a light echo from a newly born star. Moreover, astronomers have attempted to count as many (proto) stars as possible, resulting in 1,001 different light sources. Many newborn stars are still hidden within dusty cocoons, but we anticipate they will soon reveal themselves.
Incessant Fascination with NGC 346
Are you captivated by NGC 346? James Webb had previously captured the star-forming region earlier this year, and it provides slightly different details in its portrayal.
