![]() Next to the brighter one, we can see the dying one that caused the nebula - the dot that looks redder on the left. ![]() Right in the center of the cosmic eye, there are clearly two stars present. Thanks to MIRI, we also get an exciting Easter egg in this photo. Like it's name, MIRI's specialty is catching light from the mid-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Like a mixed-media painting, it offers a good deal of texture to showcase different facets of the Southern Ring, including those shockwaves.Īnd on the right is a version of the image drawn by the JWST's Mid-Infrared Instrument, or MIRI. In this case, Nircam helps illustrate the layers of light that connect to make up this complex system. It's often considered the telescope's holy grail imager because it leads the charge in finding pieces of the invisible universe. That's because this side is a version of the nebular image taken by the JWST's Near-Infrared Camera, or Nircam. On the left, you'll see them a bit more clearly. "It's caused by a dying star that spilled a large fraction of its mass over in successive waves." These shockwaves can be clearly seen in the image, they're the pond-like ripples floating around the center that resembles a biological cell. "This is a planetary nebula," NASA astronomer Karl Gordon said. On the left is a version of the Southern Ring Nebula taken by JWST's Nircam and on the right, by MIRI. Now that we know what we're about to look at, let's get into it.įor its first nebula science discoveries, the JWST focused on two separate stardust clouds: The Carina Nebula, located about 8,500 light-years from Earth, and the Eight Burst Nebula, which is much closer at around 2,000 light-years away. Plus, NASA's next-gen scope offers a much (much) better resolution than a telescope such as Hubble - in effect, catching the internal nebula show as well as external structure with a sophisticated clarity novel to human eyes. The JWST's instruments, however, easily get past them via infrared imaging to check out what's going on backstage. They're veils that typically obscure our view of the flashy features within - namely, stars just bursting to life or those in the process of dying. That means our pupils, and even massive telescopes like the Hubble Space Telescope, can't penetrate nebular curtains of gaseousness. And more specifically to nebulas, that "hidden" light, so to speak, happens to be the main kind shooting through their dust clouds from whatever lies inside. You can read exactly how the JWST's infrared imaging works here, but the basic principle is it can access light - emanating across the cosmos from stars, galaxies and other luminescent objects - that's stuck in a region of the electromagnetic spectrum invisible to our eyes. But in both cases, nebulas are responsible for some of the most stunning visuals we have of our cosmos - and through the JWST's lens, the most powerful infrared imager we've ever worked with, their marvel is only enhanced. Some are home to fledgling baby stars, while others are created by their explosive deaths. Nebulas are immense clouds of dust and gas that exist at either end of a star's life.
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