File:Webb Space Telescope View of the Horsehead Nebula (SVS31283).jpg
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[edit]DescriptionWebb Space Telescope View of the Horsehead Nebula (SVS31283).jpg |
English: The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has captured the sharpest infrared images to date of one of the most distinctive objects in our skies, the Horsehead Nebula. These observations show a part of the iconic nebula in a whole new light, capturing its complexity with unprecedented spatial resolution.Webb’s new images show part of the sky in the constellation Orion (The Hunter), in the western side of the Orion B molecular cloud. Rising from turbulent waves of dust and gas is the Horsehead Nebula, otherwise known as Barnard 33, which resides roughly 1300 light-years away. The nebula formed from a collapsing interstellar cloud of material, and glows because it is illuminated by a nearby hot star. The gas clouds surrounding the Horsehead have already dissipated, but the jutting pillar is made of thick clumps of material that is harder to erode. Astronomers estimate that the Horsehead has about five million years left before it too disintegrates. Webb’s new view focuses on the illuminated edge of the top of the nebula’s distinctive dust and gas structure.The Horsehead Nebula is a well-known photon-dominated region, or PDR. In such a region ultraviolet light from young, massive stars creates a mostly neutral, warm area of gas and dust between the fully ionised gas surrounding the massive stars and the clouds in which they are born. This ultraviolet radiation strongly influences the gas chemistry of these regions and acts as the most important source of heat. These regions occur where interstellar gas is dense enough to remain neutral, but not dense enough to prevent the penetration of far-ultraviolet light from massive stars. The light emitted from such PDRs provides a unique tool to study the physical and chemical processes that drive the evolution of interstellar matter in our galaxy, and throughout the Universe from the early era of vigorous star formation to the present day.Owing to its proximity and its nearly edge-on geometry, the Horsehead Nebula is an ideal target for astronomers to study the physical structures of PDRs and the evolution of the chemical characteristics of the gas and dust within their respective environments, and the transition regions between them. It is considered one of the best objects in the sky to study how radiation interacts with interstellar matter.This image was captured with Webb’s MIRI (Mid-InfraRed Instrument).[Image description: The image is more than half-filled by a small section of the Horsehead Nebula, from the bottom up. The clouds are seen up close, showing thick, whitish streaks and dark voids, as well as textured, fuzzy-looking patterns of dust and gas. The nebula stops at a spiky edge that follows a slight curve. Above it a small number of distant stars and galaxies lie on a dark but multi-coloured background.] |
Date | 22 May 2024 (upload date) |
Source | Webb Space Telescope View of the Horsehead Nebula |
Author | NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio - Global Science and Technology, Inc./Amy Moran |
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Keywords InfoField | Hubble Space Telescope; Hyperwall; Nebula; JWST; Webb Telescope; MIRI; NIRCam |
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[edit]Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse |
This file is in the public domain in the United States because it was solely created by NASA. NASA copyright policy states that "NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted". (See Template:PD-USGov, NASA copyright policy page or JPL Image Use Policy.) | ||
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current | 21:34, 14 June 2024 | 1,024 × 1,584 (347 KB) | OptimusPrimeBot (talk | contribs) | #Spacemedia - Upload of https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a030000/a031200/a031283/STScI-01HWDBRBH7R86C2M8N7KQAZ8JR-horsehead-MIRI_print.jpg via Commons:Spacemedia |
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Credit/Provider | ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, K. Misselt (University of Arizona) and A. Abergel (IAS/University Paris-Saclay, CNRS) |
Source | ESA/Webb |
Usage terms |
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Date and time of data generation | 11:00, 29 April 2024 |
Color space | Uncalibrated |
Image width | 674 px |
Image height | 1,043 px |
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Compression scheme | Uncompressed |
Height | 1,043 px |
Width | 674 px |
Pixel composition | RGB |
Number of components | 3 |
Horizontal resolution | 72 dpi |
Vertical resolution | 72 dpi |
Contact information |
ESA Office, Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Dr Baltimore, MD, 21218 United States |
Keywords | Horsehead Nebula |
Date and time of digitizing | 11:04, 8 February 2024 |
Software used | Adobe Photoshop 25.3 (Windows) |
Date metadata was last modified | 06:01, 26 April 2024 |
File change date and time | 06:01, 26 April 2024 |
Unique ID of original document | xmp.did:39bc4e49-5187-2d49-80ea-160ec6ffacd4 |