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Celebrate the JWST's Third Anniversary with This Stunning Image
CAT'S PAW NEBULA, CONSTELLATION SCORPIUS, JUL 11 – The James Webb Space Telescope's near-infrared image unveils new structural details in the Cat's Paw Nebula, home to over 700,000 stars including 2,200 young stellar objects, NASA said.
- The James Webb Space Telescope is celebrating its third year of operations with new images of the Cat's Paw Nebula released in July 2025.
- The observatory's ability to reveal infrared details of this massive star-forming region in Scorpius stems from its superior capabilities compared to previous telescopes like Hubble.
- The Cat's Paw Nebula contains dense molecular clouds and active star formation, including dust filaments and knots collapsing into stars, with star births possibly accompanied by planet formation.
- Webb has observed thermal molecular lines indicating an uncommon stage in the development of a high-mass protostar and uncovered enduring carbon-rich dust shells surrounding several aging Wolf-Rayet star systems.
- These observations provide new insights into stellar life cycles and the star formation process, while Webb continues contributing indispensable data and inspiring future missions.
15 Articles
15 Articles
Webb’s Birthday Blockbuster: Baby Suns Ignite Tiered Rings Inside the Cosmic Cat’s Paw
What lies within a toe bean? According to NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, mini toe beans composed of gas, dust, and stars. Since kicking off full science operations in July 2022, the James Webb Space Telescope has dazzled researchers and sky-watchers alike by looking deeper into space than any telescope before it. Every new infrared [...]
James Webb Space Telescope Spots Stellar Death Shrouds
In brilliant new images, the James Webb Space Telescope has captured a rare glimpse at the gaseous "shrouds" that surround dying stars before they go supernova. Known as Wolf-Rayet stars, which were discovered nearly 160 years ago by astronomers Charles Wolf and Georges Rayet at the Paris Observatory and named in their honor, these ancient stars are, as Space.com notes, surrounded by a "shroud" of cosmic dust that will eventually explode outward…
With high resolution, Webb reveals previously unseen structural details and features of the nebula, 4,000 light-years away.
Celebrate the JWST's third anniversary with this stunning image
On July 11, 2022, the James Webb Space Telescope finished its commissioning and commenced science operations. In the three years since, the powerful infrared space telescope has delivered on its promise. It's looked back in time and surprised us with the galaxies it found. It's directly-imaged exoplanets and studied the atmospheres of others. Among this and all of its other science, it's delivered a stream of stunning images.
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