Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex (IMAGE)

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex

Caption

The first anniversary image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope displays star birth like it’s never been seen before, full of detailed, impressionistic texture. The subject is the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, the closest star-forming region to Earth. It is a relatively small, quiet stellar nursery, but you’d never know it from Webb’s chaotic close-up. Jets bursting from young stars crisscross the image, impacting the surrounding interstellar gas and lighting up molecular hydrogen, shown in red. Some stars display the telltale shadow of a circumstellar disk, the makings of future planetary systems. Download the full-resolution, uncompressed version and supporting visuals from the Space Telescope Science Institute: https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/images/2023/128/01H449193V5Q4Q6GFBKXAZ3S03?news=true

Credit

Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Klaus Pontoppidan (STScI)

Usage Restrictions

No restrictions.

License

Public Domain

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