Webb Telescope captures star birth in Lobster Nebula
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has released a striking image of a young star cluster, offering a detailed look at one of the nearest sites of massive star formation.
The picture, published on 4 September, shows Pismis 24 in the heart of the Lobster Nebula, about 5,500 light years away in the constellation Scorpius. Astronomers say the cluster is a rare opportunity to study how hot, massive stars form and evolve.
Captured in infrared light by Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera, the image reveals thousands of stars of varying size and colour. The brightest stars, marked with six-point diffraction spikes, are among the most massive in the cluster. Hundreds of smaller stars appear in shades of white, yellow and red, depending on their type and the amount of surrounding dust.
Behind the cluster, Webb has also uncovered tens of thousands of stars belonging to the Milky Way, visible through the cloud of gas and dust.
