The shot of the Carina Nebula is undoubtedly the most poetic of the first images from the James Webb Telescope, with its superb “cosmic cliffs”. But what exactly are these structures?
The first images obtained by the James Webb Telescope (JWST), presented on July 12, 2022, are masterful. And this is probably only the beginning of the feats of which this NASA observatory will be capable. Among these first shots, there is already enough to find a sublime wallpaper for your smartphone. The Carina Nebula is particularly poetic, with its “cosmic cliffs”. But what exactly do we see in this image?
A simple glance at this magnificent shot of the nebula (a star birth zone) gives the impression of contemplating, as NASA puts it, a ” landscape of ‘mountains’ and ‘valleys’ speckled with twinkling stars “. The space agency itself uses the phrase “cosmic cliffs” to describe this image taken by James Webb. One can almost have the impression of observing a terrestrial landscape from the sky, like a sea bordered by high cliffs.
“James Webb probes areas we couldn’t see before”
James Webb was actually observing a specific region located at the edge of the Carina Nebula: NGC 3324, where many young stars are forming.NGC 3324 is 7,600 light years away from us.
Thanks to the infrared observations of the JWST, we can finally see further into this nebula. Areas where stars are born become visible. “ James Webb allows us to probe areas of this nebula that we could not see beforeexplains to Numerama Anthony Boccaletti, CNRS research director at LESIA (Laboratory for Spatial Studies and Instrumentation in Astrophysics). Telescopes like Hubble struggle to penetrate this nebula because it’s opaque to visible radiation. »
“Cliffs” of7 light years
The highest “peaks” of these “cosmic cliffs” are vertiginous: these structures measure about 7 light years! And the “sea” they seem to border is actually ” a cavity in the nebuladescribeAnthony Boccaletti, where there is less gas and dust “. It is the very bright stars, visible at the top of the image, which have contributed to digging out this cavernous zone. ” They emit a very energetic light and a stellar wind. This light and matter is eroding part of the nebula sums up the scientist. And below, in the orange zone, we see stars that are beginning to live “.
Through his observations ofNGC 3324, James Webb can help scientists better understand how stars form. Here, the instruments NIRCam, the telescope’s near infrared camera, and MIRI, its near infrared instrument, were used. NIRCam makes hundreds of previously impossible to spot stars visible, while MIRI reveals the nebula’s hot dust and various chemical compounds.