Webb Telescope Reveals “Cosmic Storm” of Starbirth in Lobster Nebula, Images Deemed “More Amazing Than Fiction”
BALTIMORE, MD – the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has delivered a breathtaking new image of the Pismis 24 star cluster within the Lobster Nebula, showcasing the chaotic and dramatic birth of massive stars in unprecedented detail. The image, released by the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) which operates the telescope for NASA, has been described as resembling a scene from a fantasy epic like the Lord of the Rings, yet represents a reality far exceeding imagination.
Launched in December 2021 and now orbiting the sun approximately 1.6 million kilometers from Earth, JWST is a collaborative effort between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). NASA officials predicted the telescope would revolutionize our understanding of the universe, a claim validated by the emotional response to its initial images - some scientists reportedly shed tears at the clarity of the data.
Astronomers are now hailing JWST’s capabilities as ushering in a “golden era of discovery.” The telescope can peer back to within 300 million years of the Big Bang, observing the formation of the first stars and galaxies, and analyze the atmospheres of distant exoplanets.
The newly released image of Pismis 24 reveals that starbirth isn’t a gentle process, but a “cosmic storm.” The massive young stars within the cluster dramatically disrupt their surroundings,sometimes accelerating and sometimes halting the formation of new stars. Some of these stars blaze at temperatures up to eight times hotter than our sun.
The JWST image highlights towering structures of gas and dust sculpted by the intense heat and radiation of these stars. Within these structures, new stars are actively forming. One particularly large structure extends over 200 times the diameter of our solar system, representing only a portion of the expansive Lobster Nebula.
The image also showcases thousands of stars varying in color and size. The brightest stars exhibit six-pointed diffraction patterns, a characteristic of the JWST’s mirror design. Stars glow in shades of white, yellow, and red, depending on their type and the amount of obscuring dust.
At the heart of Pismis 24 lies the star 24-1, previously thought to be the moast massive star ever observed. Further analysis revealed it is indeed actually a binary system, comprised of two stars each boasting a mass approximately 74 and 66 times that of the sun – making it one of the brightest and most massive star systems discovered to date.
Pam Melroy, NASA’s Deputy Administrator, emphasized the telescope’s longevity, noting that fuel reserves will allow for operations for at least another 20 years. The observations of Pismis 24 demonstrate the profound influence young stars have on their environments,providing invaluable data for astronomers studying stellar evolution and the dynamics of nebulae.
(mashable/z-2)