Scientists reveal heavenly view of stars being formed

By Dean Murray via SWNS

Space scientists have revealed a heavenly image of stars being formed.

Entitling the picture "A massive cluster is born," the ESA (European Space Agency) say it shows N79, a massive star-forming region within the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way.

The image from the James Webb Telescope, unveiled on Jan. 23, reveals glowing gas and dust deep within the clouds, as well as "embedded baby stars."

N79 spans roughly 1630 light-years in the generally unexplored southwest region of the LMC.

NASA's Webb Telescope X (formerly Twitter) account dramatically commented, "It’s always darkest before the dawn."

ESA say: "N79 produces stars at a furious rate, much faster than star-forming regions found in our own galaxy. In fact, N79’s chemical composition is similar to those from the early universe, when star formation was at its peak.

"Here, those vivid rays resembling sunlight are actually diffraction spikes. Most noticeable for bright, compact objects, diffraction spikes are somewhat like a telescope’s “signature.”

"The eight-point pattern is the result of the telescope’s hexagonal mirror design, combined with its secondary mirror struts. Meanwhile, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope produces a four-pointed diffraction spike pattern due to its circular mirror."

The James Webb Space Telescope is designed to conduct infrared astronomy. Its high-resolution and high-sensitivity instruments allow it to view objects too old, distant, or faint for the Hubble Space Telescope.