Here is what we discovered from the first batch of photos taken by NASA’s newest space observatory and how we can use it to enhance student learning.
The James Webb Space Telescope, NASA’s newest space observatory, has returned its first set of images and spectra of five different targets, ranging from exoplanets to galaxy clusters to nebulae, revealing the universe in previously unseen ways. These targets, chosen by a team of experts, mark only the beginning of the telescope’s scientific operations and our capacity to view the universe in a completely new way.
This image of the Carina Nebula, a cloud of gas and dust located about 7,600 light years away, shows stellar nurseries, young stars, and protostellar jets, which are narrow, ultra-fast streams of gas emanating from baby stars.
Massive clouds of gas and dust called nebulae can be hundreds of light-years across in some cases. JWST’s infrared cameras allow it to peer into these dusty areas of space, revealing amazing details that other telescopes had not been able to see.
The Webb telescope captured this image of NGC 3324, a star-forming region in the Carina Nebula. It’s possible that unstable regions will be encountered as this region’s edge moves closer to the gas and dust. A new star can be created by the collapse of the gas and dust under the influence of pressure changes, a process known as accretion. A star may not form, however, if too much material is pushed away.
The observations made by the Webb telescope in nebulae like this will aid research into some unsolved astrophysical mysteries, such as what determines the number of stars in a given region and why do stars form with specific masses.
Researchers can discover how these clouds are impacted by star formation. There are a lot of small or low-mass stars in nebulae, but little is known about them. But by examining the jets visible in the new image, researchers can learn how these stars are ejecting gas and dust from the cloud, decreasing the amount of material available to form new stars. Additionally, researchers will be able to count all of these low-mass stars and take into account their effects on the nebula as a whole.
Exoplanet WASP-96 b, a planet outside of our solar system, was observed by the JWST using a spectrum of light rather than an image. Highlights in the spectrum show that there are water molecules present. The spectrum also reveals evidence of clouds and haze, which were previously believed not to exist in the atmosphere of WASP-96 b.