We have written several times in the past about the amazing images captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. The data is used by researchers to better understand our Universe but, often, it is also true “artwork” of the Cosmos for their beauty which goes beyond the scientific part alone and which can also be appreciated by those who are not interested in astronomy. An example is the latest image released by JWSTit is the known and known Horsehead Nebula which is located in the constellation Orion about 1300 light years away from Earth.
A comparison between Euclid, Hubble and Webb
Its iconic shape is known by many people but the detail it manages to achieve James Webb Space Telescope exceeds that of other telescopes (space or ground-based). This nebula, also known as Barnard 33 it is a region of star formation where, over the course of millions of years, new stars forming will be clearly visible, covered by a blanket of gas and dust that hides them from view.
The James Webb Space Telescope and the Horsehead Nebula
The image was captured on January 30, 2024 and made public only in the past few hours. Thanks to the potential of JWST it is possible to notice tumultuous clouds of gas and dust and the complexity of the nebula’s environment. The gas and dust are illuminated by a star that is nearby and which modifies their structure.
The NIRCam image (click on the image to enlarge)
L’ultraviolet emission of young massive stars creates a zone of hot, neutral gas and dust called “photodissociation region” (or PDR). PDRs form when dust is dense enough to remain neutral but not dense enough to block ultraviolet light. These areas are instead in contrast to those found around the stars where there is ionized gas which is in turn surrounded by dust clouds in which the stars were formed.
The emissions of regions of photodissociation they are important as they allow you to study chemical and physical processes which then lead to the evolution of interstellar matter both in the Milky Way but also in other areas of the Universe.
The MIRI image (click on the image to enlarge)
The scientists used data from NIRCam And MIRI of the James Webb Space Telescope to capture a series of data. In particular, the image resulting from the near infrared observation exploited the F140M, F250M, F300M, F323N, F335M, F430M, F405N and F470N filters to which the colors blue, cyan, green, orange and red were assigned. For the medium infrared, however, the F560W, F770W, F1000W, F1100W, F1200W, F1500W, F1800W, F2100W and F2500W filters were used.
The images show an intricate network of striated structures extending perpendicular to the front of the photodissociation region. These structures are made up of dust and ionized gas that are pushed by the flow generated by the PDR. The data provided by JWST they also allowed us to better understand the three-dimensional structure of the Horsehead Nebula. In the future, new spectroscopic surveys will be performed with NIRSpec and MIRI to study the chemical and physical properties of these areas. L’ESA has also released a high-resolution image from almost 100 MB of NIRCam to allow you to admire every single detail of the nebula.
