This James Webb Space Telescope image shows the giant molecular cloud Orion A, an area of the sky replete with star-forming clouds. Photo courtesy of NASA
A new image from the James Webb Space Telescope is giving astronomers a striking look at young stars forming 1,280 light-years from Earth.
Webb has turned its gaze toward the constellation Orion before, but the latest observations focus on a region known as Orion Molecular Clouds 2, or OMC-2. The star-forming region stretches about 150 light-years across and is packed with young stars.
“The intense star-forming activity has produced an impressive display of billowing outflows and sparkling stars atop swirling layers of gas and dark, obscuring clouds,” the European Space Agency said.
OMC-2 can only be studied with Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera because thick gas and dust block visible light from reaching Earth.
“Since these molecular clouds are so near to Earth, they are excellent laboratories to learn about the earliest stages of stellar evolution,” the ESA said.
Scientists also hope the new observations will help reveal how star formation in OMC-2 may influence other nearby stellar nurseries in Orion.
A glimpse of deep space: Images from James Webb Space Telescope
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope captures a near-infrared light view of Arp 142, nicknamed the Penguin and the Egg. The distorted spiral galaxy at center, the Penguin, and the compact elliptical galaxy at left, the Egg, are locked in an active embrace. Photo courtesy of NASA | License Photo
