NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has taken
two new images of the star-forming region NGC 604.
Sheltered among these dusty envelopes of gas
are more than 200 of the hottest,
most massive kinds of stars, all in the early stages of their lives.
Using Webb’s powerful Near-Infrared Camera,
called NIRCam, the most noticeable features
are tendrils and clumps of bright red emission,
extending out from areas that look like clearings,
or large bubbles in the nebula.
Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument, called MIRI,
lets us see a new window into the
diverse and dynamic activity of this region.
In the MIRI view of NGC 604,
there are noticeably fewer stars.
This is because hot stars are much fainter at
these wavelengths of light,
while the large clouds of cooler gas and dust glow brightly.
How stars are born and how they interact with
their environments are two big questions in
astronomy today that are actively being studied
with the Webb telescope. In this new image,
Webb is showing us parts of the story of star formation that we could never
see before, revealing more about the universe and our place in it.
"WEBB Space Telescope" Ending Screen
NASA Meatball End Screen