Managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory through launch, Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument also revealed jets of gas flowing into space from the twin stars.
when they turned the observatory toward a group of young stars called WL 20. The region has been studied since the 1970s with at least five telescopes, but it took Webb’s unprecedented resolution and specialized instruments to reveal that what researchers long thought was one of the stars, WL 20S, is actually a pair that formed about 2 million to 4 million years ago.at the 244th meeting of the American Astronomical Society on June 12.
The team got another surprise when additional observations by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array , a group of more than 60 radio antennas in Chile, revealed that disks of dust and gas encircle both stars. Based on the stars’ age, it’s possible that planets are forming in those disks. This image of the WL 20 star group combines data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array and the Mid-Infrared Instrument on NASA’s Webb telescope. Gas jets emanating from the poles of twin stars appear blue and green; disks of dust and gas surrounding the stars are pink.about 400 light-years from Earth. In fact, WL 20 is hidden behind thick clouds of gas and dust that block most of the visible light from the stars there.
But scientists could easily have interpreted those observations as evidence of a single disk with a gap in it had MIRI not also observed the two stellar jets. The jets of gas are composed of ions, or individual atoms with some electrons stripped away that radiate in mid-infrared wavelengths but not at submillimeter wavelengths. Only an infrared instrument with spatial and spectral resolution like MIRI’s could see them.
Exoplanets James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Jet Propulsion Laboratory Stars
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
James Webb telescope reveals 'cataclysmic' asteroid collision in nearby star systemBen Turner is a U.K. based staff writer at Live Science. He covers physics and astronomy, among other topics like tech and climate change. He graduated from University College London with a degree in particle physics before training as a journalist.
Read more »
Webb telescope reveals asteroid collision in neighboring star systemAstronomers have captured what appears to be a snapshot of a massive collision of giant asteroids in Beta Pictoris, a neighboring star system known for its early age and tumultuous planet-forming activity.
Read more »
Webb Telescope reveals asteroid collision in neighboring star systemAstronomers have captured what appears to be a snapshot of a massive collision of giant asteroids in Beta Pictoris, a neighboring star system known for its early age and tumultuous planet-forming activity.
Read more »
Rocky, carbon-rich exoplanets more likely around tiny stars, James Webb Space Telescope revealsRobert Lea is a science journalist in the U.K. whose articles have been published in Physics World, New Scientist, Astronomy Magazine, All About Space, Newsweek and ZME Science. He also writes about science communication for Elsevier and the European Journal of Physics. Rob holds a bachelor of science degree in physics and astronomy from the U.K.
Read more »
Super-Earth Secrets: James Webb Telescope Reveals Unexpected Exoplanet AtmosphereScience, Space and Technology News 2024
Read more »
NASA's Webb Reveals 'Sparkling' Birth of Universe's Earliest Galaxies'You could say that these are the first 'direct' images of galaxy formation that we've ever seen,' researcher Kasper Heintz said.
Read more »