The JWST celebrates its first year in space with this stunning image of our Universe

2023-07-15 19:49:05

One year after the commissioning of the JWST, the telescope’s three partner space agencies are celebrating this anniversary by unveiling a spectacular image. This is a small star-forming region located in the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, where about 50 young stars can be observed, all of a mass similar to the Sun or smaller.

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A year ago, on July 12, 2022, NasaNasa, ESAESA and CSA unveiled the first images from the James-Webb Space Telescope (JWST) which ushered in a new era of astronomy. Since then, this observatory has kept all its promises, offering us a vision of the UniverseUniverse never seen before. Whatever the fields of astronomy studied and the instruments used (he has four), the discoveries and scientific advances have been numerous and have exceeded expectations.

James-Webb: the first images open a new era of astronomy

An enriched knowledge of the Universe

Throughout this first year of use, the JWST has undeniably pushed the frontiers of knowledge by exploring key research areas.

“The JWST has undeniably pushed the frontiers of knowledge”

Through his observations, he contributed to our understanding of the formation and evolution of galaxies, the birth of starsstars, the characteristics of exoplanetsexoplanets and their atmospheres, as well as the first stars and the first black holes ‘Universe. The James-Webb spectroscopic instruments played an important role. They have made it possible to reveal detailed information about the composition, movementmovement and history of many objects, thus opening up new avenues for astronomical research.

A region rich in the formation of planetary systems

Today, the three partner space agencies of the telescopetelescope reveal the image they have chosen to celebrate this anniversary. This is a small star-forming region in the Rho Ophiuchi cloud-cloud complex in which there are about 50 young stars, all of Sun-like mass or smaller. The darker areas correspond to dense regions where protostarsprotostars form in thick cocoons of dust. This image is dominated by dazzling jets of molecular hydrogen of red color, visible horizontally on the upper third and vertically on the right of the image. These jets occur when emerging stars first emerge from their dust envelope, creating a pair of opposing jets that propagate through space. As for the star that sculpted the luminous cavity visible in the lower half of the image, it is S1. It is the only star in the image to be significantly more massive than the Sun.

James-Webb Telescope discovers ‘previously unknown molecules in protoplanetary disks’

Some stars revealed in the image show shadows, indicating the presence of protoplanetary disksprotoplanetary disks, planetary systems in potential formation. Inside, it can be assumed that many planets are forming.

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