The Webb Telescope captures a mesmerizing view of the Cat's Paw nebula
The Cat's Paw nebula is part of the Scorpio constellation. (You know, the one that looks like a scorpion?) It floats about 4,000 light years away from us. That translates to 23.5 quintillion miles. Put another way, that's a billion miles times a billion times 23.5.
So, what we're seeing is a snapshot of the Cat's Paw from approximately 4,000 years ago. On Earth, that's when the Egyptian pyramids were only a few hundred years old and Stonehenge was nearly complete.
Here's the uncropped version:
The vast cloud of gas and dust showcases the formation of new stars. Your eye probably goes straight to that oceanic blue shape near the center. Scientists call that the "Opera House" for its circular, tiered appearance. The ESA says the cause of its azure glow is likely the light from its bright stars or a hidden nearby source.
In its three years of operation, the Webb Telescope has been a source of scientific discovery and visual marvel. It captured the first direct image of an exoplanet and an Einstein Ring. It gave us a jaw-dropping glimpse at the Sombrero galaxy. It even provided us with a picture of Uranus that looks like a portal to another dimension. (Stop snickering, class!)
The ESA goes into much more detail about the Cat's Paw image in its press release. You can check out the video below for a panned view.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Yahoo
James Webb telescope captures one of the deepest-ever views of the universe — Space photo of the week
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Quick facts What it is: The Hubble Ultra Deep Field, revisited by the James Webb Space Telescope Where it is: Close to the Big Dipper in the night sky When it was shared: Aug. 1, 2025 The James Webb Space Telescope's (JWST) latest extragalactic survey has revealed fainter and more distant objects than ever before, some dating back to the earliest periods of the universe. But it stands on the shoulders of a giant: When NASA published the Hubble Ultra Deep Field image in 2004, it stunned the world of astronomy. A composite of 800 images from exposures totaling 11 days, the deep image of an otherwise unremarkable part of the night sky revealed nearly 10,000 galaxies, many among the most distant known. Now, JWST has observed that same patch of sky with different eyes — and found 2,500 more objects. Crucially, they're even more distant. JWST's new take on the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, named the MIRI Deep Imaging Survey (MIDIS), is the deepest-ever mid-infrared image of that part of the night sky. The extraordinary new image is the result of nearly 100 hours of observing time using the space observatory's Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) and Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam). It includes hundreds of extremely red galaxies, some of which may date back to less than a billion years after the Big Bang. Related: 42 jaw-dropping James Webb Space Telescope images At the core of the composite image is one ultralong exposure. Using just one of MIRI's filters, JWST took an exposure of the night sky for 41 hours — the longest single-filter observation it has performed of an extragalactic field to date. The plan was to capture galaxies in mid-infrared light — something neither Hubble nor human eyes can detect — which also revealed previously unseen regions of dust and old, red stars. More space photos —NASA unveils 9 stunning snapshots of the cosmos in X-ray vision —Astronomers witness a newborn planet emerging from the dust around a sun-like star —'Fighting dragons' light up little-known constellation in the Southern sky Capturing light in wavelengths beyond the capabilities of human vision always brings a problem: How can we even begin to look at it? Processing such images requires filters that assign a different color to each different wavelength of light. In this image, galaxies rich in dust and star-forming activity are orange and red, extremely distant compact galaxies are greenish, and galaxies bright in the near-infrared are blue and cyan. Researchers described the image in a paper in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, along with a slider tool, a pan video and a transition video with the Hubble Ultra Deep Field for comparison. For more sublime space images, check out our Space Photo of the Week archives. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
'The most significant JWST finding to date': James Webb spots — then loses — a giant planet orbiting in the habitable zone of our closest sun-like star
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. There might be a huge planet lurking near one of the closest stars to Earth. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has imaged a possible planet near Alpha Centauri A, a sun-like star that forms part of the triplet Alpha Centauri star group. The mini-cluster is just four light-years from Earth and is a rich ground for astronomers to learn about other star systems. But there's a catch: JWST only spotted the supposed Saturn-size world once — in August 2024 — and two more tries in 2025 came up empty. "We are faced with the case of a disappearing planet," study co-lead author Aniket Sanghi, a doctoral student at Caltech, said in a statement. Astronomers aren't giving up yet. The research team said the planet may have moved in its orbit into the glare of the star — making it temporarily invisible to JWST. "This is a plausible explanation," Stanimir Metchev, Canada Research Chair in Extrasolar Planets at Western University in Ontario, told Live Science via email. Metchev was not involved in the research. "[It] comes with a strict prediction that the planet should again be visible in 2026 or 2027. These follow-up observations will be key for confirming this planet," Metchev added. But assuming the planet is there, "it would be the most significant JWST discovery to date." Related: 'The early universe is nothing like we expected': James Webb telescope reveals 'new understanding' of how galaxies formed at cosmic dawn If confirmed, the planet would be the closest world to Earth that orbits in the habitable zone of a star — the area around a star where water could exist in liquid form, on the rocky surface of an Earth-size world. The newfound Saturn-size exoplanet, however, is likely too large for life as we know it. The purported planet would also be the closest planet to its star ever imaged directly, as it orbits at twice the equivalent distance between Earth and the sun. But none of this is a slam-dunk yet. "The signal is at the limit of what contrast-enhancement techniques applied to JWST images can deliver," Metchev said. "The authors go through a painstaking and believable analysis, but nonetheless any direct image of an exoplanet — especially one with such potential significance — will require an independent confirmation." The Alpha Centauri system is made up of three stars: the sun-like stars Alpha Centauri A and Alpha Centauri B, and a fainter red dwarf called Proxima Centauri. Astronomers have already confirmed three planets circling Proxima Centauri. JWST used its Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) for the observations.. Planet-hunting in Alpha Centauri required a custom observing sequence. A coronagraphic mask was also used to block out the light of Alpha Centauri A, enabling JWST to image much fainter planets orbiting nearby. RELATED STORIES — Will we ever reach Alpha Centauri, our closest neighboring star system? — 4 tiny, Earth-like planets found circling 2nd-closest star system to us — and could be visited by future human generations — Proposed spacecraft could carry up to 2,400 people on a one-way trip to the nearest star system, Alpha Centauri "Their extra effort paid off spectacularly," study lead co-author Charles Beichman, executive director of the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute at Caltech, said in the statement. "These are incredibly challenging observations to make, even with the world's most powerful space telescope, because these stars are so bright, close, and move across the sky quickly," Beichman added. In the meantime, the research team hinted more planet-hunting may be coming: "The next closest sun-like star, Tau Ceti [about 12 light-years from Earth], will be much harder even with Webb," Beichman said. NASA"s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which will launch as soon as May 2027, will also be used to search for new worlds. Solve the daily Crossword
Forbes
2 days ago
- Forbes
NASA's Webb May Have Found A Planet Around The Closest Sun-Like Star
NASA has announced the probable discovery of a giant planet orbiting Alpha Centauri A, one of the closest stars to the solar system. If confirmed, it would be the nearest planet ever detected around a sun-like star. Although it's in the habitable zone of the star, it's a gas giant, so it would not support life as we know it. Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope found a planet while observing Alpha Centauri, a system of three stars orbiting each other — binary stars Alpha Centauri A and B, along with the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri. They're just four light-years from the solar system. Breakthrough Discovery It's been known for some time that three planets are orbiting Proxima Centauri, but planets around Alpha Centauri A — a star much like the sun — have until now proved elusive. The breakthrough came when astronomers used a coronagraph — a disk to block the bright starlight — from Alpha Centauri A, revealing a faint object around it. Around 10,000 times dimmer than the star, the planet is about twice as far from its star as Earth is from the sun. The evidence was published across two papers in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. Possible Saturn-Mass World Based on brightness and simulations, researchers believe the object could be a gas giant about the mass of Saturn — though additional observations will be needed to confirm the planet's existence. The discovery at Alpha Centauri A — the third brightest star in the night sky — could be a massive breakthrough for planetary scientists wanting to learn more about exoplanets (planets orbiting stars other than the sun). 'With this system being so close to us, any exoplanets found would offer our best opportunity to collect data on planetary systems other than our own,' said Charles Beichman, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute at Caltech's IPAC astronomy center, co-first author on the new papers. 'Yet, these are incredibly challenging observations to make, even with the world's most powerful space telescope, because these stars are so bright, close, and move across the sky quickly.' Disappearing Planet? However, it's not entirely clear that this planet exists at all. First sighted in 2019 by the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope, astronomers spotted it in August 2024, using the coronagraph in Webb's MIRI instrument. However, light from Alpha Centauri B made it a difficult observation. Attempts to confirm the planet's existence in February 2025 and April 2025 did not succeed. Researchers were not surprised, having modelled where the planet ought to be on its elliptical orbit. 'We found that in half of the possible orbits simulated, the planet moved too close to the star and wouldn't have been visible to Webb in both February and April 2025,' said Ph.D. student Aniket Sanghi of Caltech in Pasadena, California, the co-first author on the two papers covering the team's research. 'Its very existence in a system of two closely separated stars would challenge our understanding of how planets form, survive, and evolve in chaotic environments.' It's hoped that NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, set to launch as soon as 2026, could complement Webb's infrared data with visible-light observations, helping confirm the planet and figure out its size and composition. Either way, Alpha Centauri A's gas giant will be a prime target for the next generation of astronomers and telescopes. Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
