[Epoch Times, September 08, 2022](Epoch Times reporter Li Yan comprehensive report) NASA (NASA) released on Tuesday (September 6) the latest image from its Webb Space Telescope, titled “Cosmic Wolf” The tens of thousands of young stars in the star-breeding region of Cosmic Tarantula are in sight.
Located 161,000 light-years away, the nebula is the largest and brightest star-forming region in the Local Group of galaxies closest to our Milky Way. It is also home to the hottest and most massive stars known.
Astronomers observed the ‘cosmic tarantula’ with the James Webb Space Telescope’s near-infrared camera (NIRCam) and found it looked like a burrowing tarantula’s home, covered in silk . That’s why the star breeding region of 30 Doradus has been nicknamed the “Cosmic Tarantula.”
The nebula cavity at the center of the NIRCam image is hollowed out by the hot radiation from a large number of young stars, which glow pale blue in the image. Only the dense surrounding region of the nebula can resist erosion by the powerful stellar winds of these stars, forming what appear to be pillars pointing towards the cluster.
“These pillars contain forming protostars that will eventually emerge from their dust cocoons and in turn form nebulae,” NASA explained.
However, when Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) was used to look at the region, a different picture emerged: hot stars faded away while cooler gas and dust glowed. While shorter wavelengths of light are absorbed or scattered by dust grains in the nebula and thus cannot be observed by Webb, longer mid-infrared wavelengths penetrate this dust, ultimately revealing a cosmic environment never seen before.
Currently, the Webb Space Telescope is orbiting 1 million miles from Earth to reveal more about the universe.
Despite thousands of years of human experience observing stars, there are still many mysteries in the process of star formation. Many of these are due to our previous inability to get clear images of what’s going on behind the thick clouds in the star-breeding region.
The Webb Space Telescope captures infrared radiation to gain new perspectives on planets, stars and galaxies, as well as the first-ever visual images of exoplanets.
Responsible editor: Li Yuan#