The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has made its own version of one of the most iconic images of our Universe, the Pillars of Creation photograph taken by its predecessor, the Hubble Telescope. The new version of this image will help us better understand the processes that take place in formations like this one.
The starry sky.
In the new image obtained by the JWST and published yesterday by NASA the stars steal much of the protagonism from the so-called Pillars of Creation. Stars of various shades inside and outside this cosmic trident of dust and gas. Unlike other Webb images, the points of light we see here are exclusively stars, not galaxies. This is because the background of the image is veiled by a layer of dust and gas, the so-called “interstellar medium”.
The Pillars of Creation do not have a random name, it is from the gas and dust of formations like this that stars arise. This matter is compacted by the effect of gravity until it ends up reaching the critical mass of a star. These newly formed stars can be seen in the image in the immediate vicinity of the cloud, they are especially bright and have a reddish color.
Like a volcanic eruption.
However, the image also shows us this formation as we have never seen it before, in more detail and with some of its elements highlighted. Elements such as the ejections of matter emanated by young stars, jets that collide at high speeds against clouds of material that make up these pillars.
The impacts cause shock waves and a “crimson glow” from the shock and from hydrogen molecules ejected by the stars. In the image this glow looks like lava and is especially visible at the tip of the central pillar.
Look through the Nebula.
The Pillars of Creation are an element of the Eagle Nebula. They find each other about 6,500 light years from us. The Nebula is also known as the Messier Object 16 (M16).
The image was captured by JWST’s NIRCam instrument, the near-infrared camera. Infrared light can more easily navigate through these cosmic dust, gas clouds like the one that makes up these Pillars of Creation, making these formations more translucent. Thanks to this, the flagship of space telescopes has achieved this image, capturing such a number of stars, although it is not the first time we have seen them.
Beyond what we can see with our eyes in the photograph published by NASA, experts trust that this new perspective will help them better understand the processes that occur in this type of environment, the places where stars are born and with them life as we know it.
An iconic image.
The images of the Pillars of Creation obtained by the Hubble telescope are among the most viewed from outer space. It is actually several images, the first taken in 1995, the second already in 2014.
Although the Hubble photographs were taken in the “visible spectrum”, they also require special treatment, composing several photos (what we actually see are more like collages) and playing with colors and tones. A process not very different in essence from that carried out by our cameras, yes, more complex.
The Webb, still a lot to offer us.
The JWST doesn’t seem to want us to forget about it. Since he took off from French Guiana in December of last year, we have witnessed his journey to his home at Lagrange point 2, the deployment and first tests of him, and finally the first images of him.
Since then, it has not only been expanding our visual catalog of the cosmos, going where no one had before. The Webb has allowed us to make new discoveries, and has also been the subject of controversy and scares. What is certain is that it still has much to offer us, both scientifically and aesthetically.
Images | NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Hubble Heritage Project (STScI, AURA), Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Anton M. Koekemoer (STScI), Alyssa Pagan (STScI)
