James Webb’s Discovery: Milky Way’s Heart Revealed
The NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) tool aboard NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope presents a fresh perspective on a segment of the Milky Way’s dense core. Approximately 500,000 stars illuminate the Sagittarius C (Sgr C) region in this image, featuring some yet-to-be-identified elements. In cyan, a substantial area of ionized hydrogen reveals fascinating needle-like formations that exhibit no consistent alignment. Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, and S. Crowe (University of Virginia). Picture: Sagittarius C as Captured by NIRCam
“We’ve never had such clear and detailed infrared information about this area until James Webb. It’s showing us many features for the first time,” shared Samuel Crowe, the main researcher and a student at the University of Virginia. “Webb provides a remarkable level of detail, enabling us to study how stars form in this environment in a new and previously impossible way.”
The Most Extreme Place
“The center of our Milky Way, known as the galactic center, is the most extreme place in our galaxy. It’s like a testing ground for our ideas about how stars are born,” explained Professor Jonathan Tan, who is advising Crowe at the University of Virginia.
Young Stars in the Making or Protostars
Among 500,000 stars in the image, exist a group of protostars – stars in the early stages of formation, gathering mass. They create streams of light, resembling a bonfire, within a cloud that doesn’t emit much infrared. At the center of this young cluster, exist a massive protostar 30 times bigger than our Sun. The cloud from which these protostars emerge remain so thick that light from stars behind it doesn’t reach Webb, making it seem less crowded than it apppears. Smaller dark clouds in the image appear like gaps in the starry background-the regions where new stars are taking shape.
The NIRCam tool on Webb also recorded extensive emission from ionized hydrogen, displayed in cyan on one side of the dark cloud. According to Crowe, this usually happens due to energetic photons emitted by young massive stars. However, the extensive coverage revealed by Webb is somewhat unexpected and warrants additional investigation. Another aspect that Crowe intends to explore further is the needle-like structures within the ionized hydrogen, which seem to be arranged in a chaotic manner in various directions.
“The center of our galaxy is a busy and chaotic area. There are clouds of gas in turmoil, magnetized, creating stars. These stars, in turn, affect the nearby gas with their flowing winds, jets, and radiation,” explained Rubén Fedriani, a project co-investigator at the Instituto Astrofísica de Andalucía in Spain. “Webb has given us a lot of information about this intense setting, and we’re only beginning to explore it.”
Rough shapes are being used to identify things in the Sagittarius C (Sgr C) area. Scientists are examining information from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to figure out how these shapes relate to each other and other factors in the busy center of the galaxy. Image credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Samuel Crowe (UVA). Picture: Characteristics of Sagittarius C
The 25,000 Light-years Away but Enough
About 25,000 light-years away from Earth, the galactic center is near enough for the Webb telescope to examine individual stars. Providing astronomers with remarkable insights in stars formation and the influence of the cosmic surroundings. Investigation runs whether bigger stars are created at the center of the Milky Way or at its spiral arms.
“The picture taken by Webb is amazing, and the knowledge we’ll gain from it is even more fantastic,” Crowe expressed. “Big stars act like factories, creating heavy elements in their cores. So, getting to know them better is like discovering the backstory of a significant part of the universe.”
The James Webb Space Telescope is the top space science observatory globally. Uncovering secrets within our solar system, explores faraway planets orbiting other stars, investigates the structures and beginnings of our universe. Webb a global effort led by NASA in collaboration with partners like the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency.
Read the Original Article: NASA
Read more: James Webb Telescope Has Already Begun Changing Models And Baffling Scientists
