NASA’s Webb Uncovers Star Formation in Cluster’s Dusty Ribbons, NGC 346 (NIRCam)

What was star formation like in the early universe? One way to study conditions in the distant past is to find parallels close by. That's why Webb took a look at star-forming region NGC 346 within our neighboring dwarf galaxy.

NGC 346 resides in the Small Magellanic Cloud, which has a composition much closer to that of galaxies from the early universe — when star formation was at its peak. By observing NGC 346, astronomers may learn what early star formation in far-off galaxies might have looked like.

Webb’s sensitivity allows it to see much smaller protostars (baby stars) than previously observed. The telescope can even see the dust in the disks of gas around those protostars, which is a first! Essentially, Webb is seeing the building blocks of not just stars, but also potentially planets. This could lead to learning if rocky planets formed earlier in the universe than we thought.

Read more: www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2023/nasa-s-webb-uncovers-st...

Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, O. Jones (UK ATC), G. De Marchi (ESTEC), and M. Meixner (USRA), with image processing by A. Pagan (STScI), N. Habel (USRA), L. Lenkic (USRA) and L. Chu (NASA/Ames)

Image description:
A star cluster within a nebula. The center of the image contains arcs of orange and pink gas that form a boat-like shape. One end of these arcs points to the top right of the image, while the other end points toward the bottom left. Another plume of orange and pink gas expands from the center to the top left of the image. To the right of this plume is a large cluster of white stars. There are more of these white stars and galaxies of different sizes spread throughout the image.

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Taken on: January 11, 2023

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Sets appears in: • Webb Images/Science 2023

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