![]() The white light in the NIRCam image is due to synchrotron radiation, which is created when charged particles accelerate and travel around magnetic field lines.Īstronomers spied previously unseen details in the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A using the Webb telescope's Near-Infrared Camera (left) and Mid-Infrared Instrument (right). The bright swirls of orange and red from the April image look smokier through NIRCam’s eyes, showing where the shock wave from the supernova crashed into surrounding material. When comparing the NIRCam image with the MIRI image taken in April, the new perspective seems less colorful. “It’s really unbelievable after all these years studying Cas A to now resolve those details, which are providing us with transformational insight into how this star exploded.” “With NIRCam’s resolution, we can now see how the dying star absolutely shattered when it exploded, leaving filaments akin to tiny shards of glass behind,” Milisavljevic said. Studying the remnant allows scientists to reconstruct what happened during the supernova. Webb telescope captures never-before-seen glimpse of the heart of the Milky Way The bright cyan area contains emissions from ionized hydrogen. ![]() There are approximately 500,000 stars in this image of the Sagittarius C region of the Milky Way. Eventually, all of these ingredients will combine to form new stars and planets. Mixed within the gas are dust and molecules. ![]() The colors correspond to gaseous knots of elements shed by the star, including oxygen, argon, neon and sulfur. The new NIRCam image is dominated by orange and light pink flashes of color within the supernova remnant’s inner shell. As scientists process Webb’s data, the light captured by the telescope is translated into a spectrum of colors visible to humans. Webb observes the universe in wavelengths of infrared light, which is invisible to the human eye. In each image, certain features stand out that are invisible in the other. The image shows unprecedented details of the interaction between the expanding shell of material created by the supernova as it collides with the gas released by the star prior to the explosion.īut the image looks completely different from one taken by Webb in April using the telescope’s Mid-Infrared Instrument, or MIRI. Insights from Cas A, as the remnant is also known, allow scientists to learn more about the life cycle of stars.Īstronomers used Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera, called NIRCam, to see the supernova remnant at different wavelengths of light than those used in previous observations. The remnant stretches for about 10 light-years across, or 60 trillion miles (96.6 trillion kilometers). As the youngest known supernova remnant in our galaxy, the celestial object has been studied by a multitude of ground- and space-based telescopes. The light from Cassiopeia A first reached Earth about 340 years ago. A light-year, equivalent to 5.88 trillion miles (9.46 trillion kilometers), is how far a beam of light travels in one year. Cassiopeia A is located 11,000 light-years away in the Cassiopeia constellation. ![]() Swirls of gas and dust are all that remain of the star that went supernova 10,000 years ago. New details on a mysterious Milky Way region called ‘The Brick’ reveal it’s even stranger than scientists thought Spitzer Space Telescope offers us a fresh, infrared view of the frenzied scene at the center of our Milky Way, revealing what lies behind the dust. This is the closest look we’ve had at a supernova in our galaxy.”Ī view from the bustling center of our galactic metropolis. The energies, their chemical abundances - there is so much that depends on our understanding of supernovae. “Supernovae are primary drivers of cosmological evolution. “We’ve never had this kind of look at an exploded star before,” said astronomer Dan Milisavljevic, assistant professor of physics and astronomy at Purdue University, in a statement. Jill Biden as she debuted the first-ever digital White House Advent Calendar, which includes Webb’s new perspective of Cassiopeia A that seems to shine like a Christmas ornament. The new image was shared on Monday by first lady Dr. The space observatory has also allowed astronomers to glimpse mysterious features that haven’t appeared in images taken of the remnant using telescopes like Hubble, Chandra or Spitzer or Webb’s other instruments. Analyzing the image could help researchers better understand the processes that fuel these massive incendiary events. Now, a new image captured by the James Webb Space Telescope has revealed the closest and most detailed look inside the exploded star, according to astronomers. Thousands of years ago, a star in our galaxy violently exploded and created a glowing supernova remnant called Cassiopeia A that has intrigued scientists for decades.
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