stars

Webb First to Show 4 Dust Shells ‘Spiraling’ Apep, Limits Long Orbit – NASA Science

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Webb First to Show 4 Dust Shells ‘Spiraling’ Apep, Limits Long Orbit – NASA Science

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has delivered a first of its kind: a crisp mid-infrared image of a system of four serpentine spirals of dust, one expanding beyond the next in precisely the same pattern. (The fourth is almost transparent, at the edges of Webb’s image.) Observations taken prior to Webb only detected one shell, … Read more

Hubble Studies Star Ages in Colorful Galaxy – NASA Science

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Hubble Studies Star Ages in Colorful Galaxy – NASA Science

Stars of all ages are on display in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image of the sparkling spiral galaxy called NGC 6000, located 102 million light-years away in the constellation Scorpius. NGC 6000 has a glowing yellow center and glittering blue outskirts. These colors reflect differences in the average ages, masses, and temperatures of the … Read more

NASA’s Webb Explores Largest Star-Forming Cloud in Milky Way – NASA Science

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NASA’s Webb Explores Largest Star-Forming Cloud in Milky Way – NASA Science

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has revealed a colorful array of massive stars and glowing cosmic dust in the Sagittarius B2 molecular cloud, the most massive and active star-forming region in our Milky Way galaxy.  “Webb’s powerful infrared instruments provide detail we’ve never been able to see before, which will help us to understand some … Read more

Hubble Images Celestial Cigar’s Smoldering Heart – NASA Science

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Hubble Images Celestial Cigar’s Smoldering Heart – NASA Science

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image reveals new details in Messier 82 (M82), home to brilliant stars whose light is shaded by sculptural clouds made of clumps and streaks of dust and gas. This image features the star-powered heart of the galaxy, located just 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major (the Great … Read more

NASA’s Chandra Finds Black Hole With Tremendous Growth – NASA

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NASA’s Chandra Finds Black Hole With Tremendous Growth – NASA

A black hole is growing at one of the fastest rates ever recorded, according to a team of astronomers. This discovery from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory may help explain how some black holes can reach enormous masses relatively quickly after the big bang. The black hole weighs about a billion times the mass of the … Read more

How NASA’s Roman Mission Will Unveil Our Home Galaxy Using Cosmic Dust – NASA

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How NASA’s Roman Mission Will Unveil Our Home Galaxy Using Cosmic Dust – NASA

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will help scientists better understand our Milky Way galaxy’s less sparkly components — gas and dust strewn between stars, known as the interstellar medium. One of Roman’s major observing programs, called the Galactic Plane Survey, will peer through our galaxy to its most distant edge, mapping roughly 20 billion … Read more

NASA’s Webb Observes Immense Stellar Jet on Outskirts of Our Milky Way – NASA Science

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NASA’s Webb Observes Immense Stellar Jet on Outskirts of Our Milky Way – NASA Science

A blowtorch of seething gasses erupting from a volcanically growing monster star has been captured by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Stretching across 8 light-years, the length of the stellar eruption is approximately twice the distance between our Sun and the next nearest stars, the Alpha Centauri system. The size and strength of this particular … Read more

Glittering Glimpse of Star Birth From NASA’s Webb Telescope – NASA Science

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Glittering Glimpse of Star Birth From NASA’s Webb Telescope – NASA Science

This is a sparkling scene of star birth captured by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. What appears to be a craggy, starlit mountaintop kissed by wispy clouds is actually a cosmic dust-scape being eaten away by the blistering winds and radiation of nearby, massive, infant stars. Called Pismis 24, this young star cluster resides in … Read more