WEBB Captures a Cosmic Butterfly

WEBB Telescope has captured this stunning view of a protostar and its associated nebula. A protostar is a "baby" star that is in the process of formation.

webbtelescope.org...

The protostar within the dark cloud L1527, shown in this image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), is embedded within a cloud of material feeding its growth. Ejections from the star have cleared out cavities above and below it, whose boundaries glow orange and blue in this infrared view. The upper central region displays bubble-like shapes due to stellar “burps,” or sporadic ejections. Webb also detects filaments made of molecular hydrogen that has been shocked by past stellar ejections. The edges of the cavities at upper left and lower right appear straight, while the boundaries at upper right and lower left are curved. The region at lower right appears blue, as there’s less dust between it and Webb than the orange regions above it.

a reply to: wildespace

I came here as a butter lover, thinking butter must look great even in space.
Imagine the disappointment

Cool pics, thanks

a reply to: Terpene

Am very impressed with the texture and richness of Cosmic-Butter !!

Much better than Voodoo-Butter.

a reply to: wildespace

Webb is really showing its worth , making the previously invisible , visible.

Great picture.

I just wish they'd hurry up and get to the Trappist system.

originally posted by: gortex
a reply to: wildespace

Webb is really showing its worth , making the previously invisible , visible.

Great picture.

I just wish they'd hurry up and get to the Trappist system.

Dumb question. What is so interesting about the Trappist system?

Wonderful picture, I eagerly await for more!


Thanks for the posting,
Johnny

Great description from WEBB Facebook:

Hidden in the neck of this “hourglass” of light are the very beginnings of a new star — a protostar. The clouds of dust and gas within this region are only visible in infrared light, the wavelengths that Webb specializes in.

This protostar is a hot, puffy clump of gas that’s only a fraction of the mass of our Sun. As it draws material in, its core will compress, get hotter, and eventually begin nuclear fusion — creating a star!

See that dark line at the very center of the “hourglass”? That’s an edge-on view of a protoplanetary disk, or the disk of material being pulled into the star as it forms. It’s about the size of our solar system and may eventually clump into planets, giving us a window into our solar system’s history.

Light from the protostar is illuminating cavities in the dust and gas above and below its disk. (Think of flashlights pointing in opposite directions, each shining a cone of light.) The blue areas are where dust is thinnest, while orange represents thicker layers of dust.

a reply to: Creep Thumper

Dumb question. What is so interesting about the Trappist system?

There be Aliens !
Maybe.


Trappist-1 hosts 7 roughly Earth sized rocky planets , the largest number found in an extraterrestrial system yet , from memory I think 3 are in the habitable zone with at least one likely to be a water world.

a reply to: Nothin

Oh no, somone got his panty stuck, voodo butter could help but that probably means nothin to you.

a reply to: Terpene

Got his shnoz all outta shape, by sniffing the WEBB telescope, or something ...

a reply to: wildespace

It's not actually what webb sees. The telescope looks in the infrared band, these are computer generated pictures using the infrared data from webb...

I guess the merit goes to AI...

originally posted by: Terpene
a reply to: wildespace

I came here as a butter lover, thinking butter must look great even in space.
Imagine the disappointment

Cool pics, thanks

Actually, 'I Can't Believe It's Butter'™

originally posted by: Terpene
a reply to: wildespace

It's not actually what webb sees. The telescope looks in the infrared band, these are computer generated pictures using the infrared data from webb...

I guess the merit goes to AI...

"Infrared data" is just another digital image. Infrared photons strike the sensor and produce voltage for every pixel, same way any digital camera works.

a reply to: wildespace

Sure but it still doesn't look anything like that.

Beautiful, and interesting. Thanks for sharing.

originally posted by: Terpene
a reply to: wildespace

Sure but it still doesn't look anything like that.

To human eyes, no it doesn't. But what you see in the image is real, although the colours have been chosen by people who created this image. This is what WEBB "sees" with its digital sensor and a filter wheel.