The James Webb Space Telescope, NASA's most powerful space telescope in the world, has revealed the clearest infrared image yet of the Horsehead Nebula. In the constellation Orion, scientists believe that the region is the birthplace of many new stars.
Although this image of the Horsehead Nebula is not the first, it is the most recent high-resolution image. Focus on capturing the horse's mane area. Spanning 0.8 light-years and about 1,300 light-years from Earth, this image is the most complex and detailed image ever.
The world's first photo of the Horsehead Nebula has been takenScottish astronomer Williamina Fleming in 1888, but with the telescope technology of the time, the images were not very clear.
Behind the amazing capabilities of the James Webb Space Telescope is MIRI, a mid-infrared imager. From the James Webb Space Telescope and the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam). It can capture high-resolution images of small structures such as blue and red clouds, as well as bright edge regions of the Horsehead Nebula. Current telescopes on Earth cannot capture high-resolution images like the James Webb Space Telescope in space.
Scientists behind the projectProvides the James Webb Space TelescopeAdditional details of the aforementioned image: “The red clouds extending above the nebula are hydrogen atoms and molecules. Mixed with ultraviolet radiation from nearby massive young stars, including…Ionized gasIn addition, other galaxies can be clearly seen in the background.
Previous images of the Horsehead Nebula have been recorded several times, for example, in November 2023, the European Space Agency published the Horsehead Nebula. Which details a young planet with a mass similar to Jupiter.
Back in 2013, to honor the 23-year-old Hubble Space Telescope, NASA released new images of the Horsehead Nebula, showing the dusty structure of the nebula. However, both images still have a lower resolution than the last image it published.The James Webb Space Telescope was recently unveiled.
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