The James Webb Space Telescope has just shared a new view of the “Pillars of Creation,” one of the most famous cosmic images.
In an image shared on November 30, the James Webb Space Telescope captured the “Pillars of Creation.” This is one of the iconic photographs taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, enhanced with improved colors and depth thanks to the suite of modern instruments on the $10 billion telescope.
Latest image of the “Pillars of Creation” captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. (Image: NASA).
“Pillars of Creation” are dense clouds of hydrogen gas and cold dust in the Eagle Nebula, located in the constellation Serpens, approximately 6,500 light-years away from Earth. This region is named “creation” because the gas clouds are still in the process of forming new stars. Some people even compare this image to a human hand.
The image of the “Pillars of Creation” from James Webb features a variety of colors, representing different regions of the Eagle Nebula. The photograph combines data from the Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI).
Each color in the image corresponds to infrared wavelengths detected by James Webb, details that are invisible to the human eye.
According to Inverse, the orange color represents areas of scattered dust in space, which are locations for new star formation. These are concentrated in the largest pillar, offset to the right. This data was only captured by MIRI.
Meanwhile, data from NIRCam shows the distribution of stars around the pillar and within the nebula. By combining both images, viewers can see detailed stars and regions where new stars are forming.
“It is estimated that these stars are only a few hundred thousand years old and will continue to form over millions of years to come,” the description of the image in the James Webb library notes.
Previously, in October, James Webb collaborator, astrophysicist Rogier Windhorst, shared two separate images of the “Pillars of Creation” captured by MIRI and NIRCam. According to Windhorst, the radiation from older stars has contributed to shaping the gas clouds into these pillars.
“Pillars of Creation” captured by the MIRI camera (left) and NIRCam of James Webb. (Image: NASA).
“They are massive and formed earlier than our Sun. It is the intense blue ultraviolet radiation over millions of years that has shaped these pillars,” Windhorst shared.
The “Pillars of Creation” first attracted attention in 1995 thanks to images sent back from the Hubble Space Telescope. This is considered one of the most impressive cosmic photographs. This year, the images from James Webb have provided viewers with completely new perspectives on this area.
The James Webb Space Telescope was launched in December 2021 and became operational in July of this year after calibration. It is the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, used to discover ancient stars and galaxies, aiding in the understanding of the universe’s formation history. The modern instruments allow James Webb to collect more details than Hubble.
