Latest news with #starformation
Khaleej Times
a day ago
- Science
- Khaleej Times
Look: Cat's paw in the sky? UAE astronomers capture larger-than-Moon-size nebula
If you're an avid cat person and also into astronomy, then you're in for a treat, as UAE astronomy officials just spotted the most adorable nebula — the Cat's Paw. Photographed from the skies of Abu Dhabi's desert, the nebula was captured under challenging conditions, after 10 gruelling hours. The cosmic wonder, made up from gas and dust, was situated in the Scorpius constellation, according to the Al-Khatem Astronomical Observatory. The nebula's unique shape is not the only stunning thing about it. Its apparent size is also slightly larger than the full moon, while its actual size is such that light, travelling at 300,000 kilometres per second, would take 320 years to cross it from one end to the other. The large emission nebula is also a birthplace for stars. An emission nebula is a cloud of gas and dust in space that glows as a result of energised electrons recombining with atoms, emitting light in the process. These nebulae are often associated with star formation, where young, hot stars emit ultraviolet radiation that ionizes the surrounding gas. The light captured in the image in 2025 was emitted from the nebula 4,370 years ago. So why is it named the Cat's Paw? You guessed it! It originates from the shape of a cat's paw. The red colour of the nebula, situated in the digital pads of the cat paw shape, indicates the presence of hydrogen gas. Meanwhile the blue colour, located inside the paw and inner pad, indicates the presence of oxygen gas. Capturing method Capturing the nebula was not an easy task, as its maximum altitude above the horizon is 30 degrees, making it significantly affected by light pollution and atmospheric interference. The nebula was observed by Osama Ghanam, Anas Mohammed and Khalfan Al Nuaimi. Meanwhile, the image was captured by Mohammed Odeh and processed by Haitham Hamdi. Two telescopes were used to capture the image, along with a colour camera and a light pollution filter. The light pollution level at the observation site was Bortle 6. It took approximately 9.75 hours to capture it, which consisted of 195 images, each with a 3-minute exposure. Ninety-two images were taken with the 5-inch telescope, and 103 images with the 4-inch telescope.
Yahoo
20-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
James Webb telescope reveals 'Sleeping Beauty' galaxies in the early universe — snoozing where they weren't supposed to exist
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Astronomers have discovered over a dozen "dormant" galaxies that paused their star formation within the first billion years after the Big Bang. The discovery, made with data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), illuminates a fascinating phase in the lives of early galaxies and could provide more clues about how galaxies evolve. There are several reasons why galaxies may stop forming new stars. One is the presence of supermassive black holes at their centers. These behemoths emit intense radiation that heats and depletes cold gas, the most important ingredient for star formation. Additionally, larger neighboring galaxies can strip away this cold gas or heat it, leading to a halt in star formation. As a result, these galaxies may remain dormant indefinitely, or become "quenched." Another reason galaxies become inactive is stellar feedback. That's when the gas in the galaxy gets warmed and expelled due to stellar processes like supernovas, intense stellar winds, or the pressure associated with starlight. The galaxy thus goes through a temporary "quiet" period. "This is usually a temporary phase, which usually lasts about 25 million years," Alba Covelo Paz, a doctoral student at the University of Geneva and the lead author of a new study describing the findings, told Live Science in an email. Over millions of years, the gas that was pushed out falls back in, and the warm gas cools again. Once there is enough cold gas again, the galaxy can start forming new stars. While the dormant phase is commonly observed in nearby galaxies, astronomers have found only four dormant galaxies in the first billion years of the universe. Of those, three had masses below a billion solar masses and one had a mass above 10 billion solar masses. The limited observations and scattered properties of dormant galaxies were not sufficient to get a clear picture of early star formation. Related: 'Previously unimaginable': James Webb telescope breaks its own record again, discovering farthest known galaxy in the universe But using JWST's sensitive spectroscopic data, an international team of astronomers discovered 14 dormant galaxies with a wide range of masses in the early universe, showing that dormant galaxies are not limited to low or very high mass ranges. The findings were uploaded to the preprint database arXiv on June 27 and have not been peer-reviewed yet. Taking a breather Researchers didn't expect to see dormant galaxies in the early universe. Because these galaxies are young, they should be vigorously forming many new stars, astronomers thought. But in a 2024 paper, researchers described the first discovery of a dormant galaxy in the early universe. "The first discovery of a dormant galaxy in the early universe was such a shock because that galaxy had been observed before with Hubble, but we could not know it was dormant until JWST," Paz said. That's because, unlike the Hubble Space Telescope, JWST's NIRSpec instrument can both see light from these galaxies that has been redshifted to near-infrared wavelengths, and also provide spectroscopic details about it. Astronomers were curious to know why early galaxies stopped forming stars and whether this was common among a wide range of stellar masses. One hypothesis was that the galaxies had bursts of star formation and then quiet periods, before starting again. Paz and her team looked for the galaxies that were in between bursts of star formation. They used publicly available galaxy data in the DAWN JWST Archive. They examined the light of about 1,600 galaxies, looking for signs of new stars not forming. They also focused on clear signatures of middle-aged or old stars in the galaxies' light. The team found 14 galaxies, ranging from about 40 million to 30 billion solar masses, that had paused star formation. "We now found 14 sources supporting this burstiness process, and we found that all of them have halted star formation between 10 [million] and 25 million years before we observed them," Paz explained. That means these 14 galaxies were found to follow a stop-and-go fashion of star formation rather than continuously forming stars, and they have been quiet for at least 10 million to 25 million years. This relatively short snooze hints that stellar feedback, such as supernovas or stellar winds, caused them to go quiet and that they may eventually restart their stellar factories, Paz said. However, there is still uncertainty, she added. "We cannot confirm it for sure because we don't know how long they will remain dormant, and if they happen to stay dormant for another 50 million years, this would mean the cause of their quenching is different," Paz explained. RELATED STORIES —Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS transforms into a giant 'cosmic rainbow' in trippy new telescope image —'Ice cube' clouds discovered at the galaxy's center shouldn't exist — and they hint at a recent black hole explosion —Behold, 'The Beast': Gigantic animal-like plasma plume 13 times wider than Earth hovers over the sun This scenario would suggest that the galaxies are dead. Nevertheless, the current properties of these galaxies support a cycle of fits and starts. Because dormant galaxies are so rare, much about them remains mysterious. However, astronomers hope future observations will help shed light on these snoozing star factories. An upcoming JWST program called "Sleeping Beauties" will be dedicated to discovering dormant galaxies in the early universe, Paz said. This program will allow astronomers to estimate how long a galaxy remains in this quiet phase and help them understand the bursty star formation process. "There are still many unknowns for us, but we are one step closer to unravelling this process," Paz said.
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Peer Into The Toebeans of a Cosmic Cat's Paw to Celebrate JWST's 3rd Year
Cats are a cosmic mystery, creatures of stardust and moonlight. We may not be able to solve their endless ineffability, but JWST is not so constrained. To celebrate its third year of operations, the powerful space telescope has peered into the heart of an empyrean essence of cat: the Cat's Paw Nebula, a giant complex molecular cloud named for its resemblance to a set of enormous toe beans. It's not just a squishy-looking temptation: the Cat's Paw Nebula, located some 4,000 light-years away in the constellation Scorpius, is the site of ongoing star formation, where clumps of material are engaged in the act of transforming into massive stars, obscured inside huge clouds of dust and molecular gas. Infrared light, however, can penetrate these clouds where other wavelengths are scattered off the particles. As JWST is an infrared telescope, it is able to peer through the dust to see what's taking place inside: an excellent tool for investigating the wild process of star formation. Related: A Stunning New 3D Model of The Cat's Eye Nebula May Help Us Solve Its Mysteries This process can be seen at different stages throughout the scene presented by the telescope's near-infrared camera (NIRCam). In the upper middle 'chamber', a structure nicknamed the Opera House, a baby yellow star can be seen illuminating and blowing away the dust around it – one of the final stages of star formation. Meanwhile, in the thick brown dust in the middle of the image, glowing, fiery red blobs are sites still obscured by the nebular material in which star formation is actively underway. An orange region in the upper right with a low star count is a spot where star formation is underway in earlier stages. The opalescent blue glow illuminating the hollow areas comes from the light of the stars scattered throughout the cloud, while filaments of dust through which little light penetrates suggests a density high enough for the star formation process to be just beginning: dense knots of gas collapsing under gravity to form the seeds of baby stars. Meanwhile, blue-white stars gleam with crackling clarity – those are the fully formed stars that have blown away their surrounding material to shine their light freely through space. You can download wallpaper-sized versions of the new image on the European Space Agency JWST website. Three Epic Meteor Showers Are About to Light Up July – Here's Your Guide Astronomers Have Traced Our New Interstellar Comet's Origin, And It's a First Could a Paper Plane Thrown From The International Space Station Survive The Flight?
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Webb space telescope makes stunning discovery on 3-year anniversary
The James Webb Space Telescope has made yet another stunning discovery to round out three years of space exploration. This time, the most powerful telescope ever launched into space uncovered a cluster of forming stars within the "toe beans" of the Cat's Paw Nebula. MORE: NASA detects new planet with temperatures that suggest habitable conditions The Cat's Paw Nebula, also known as NGC 6334, is located in the constellation Scorpius about 4,000 light-years away. It is a "massive" emission nebula and star-forming region, according to NASA. It is named for its large, round features that create the impression of a feline footprint. Within one of the "toe beans" of the feline footprint exists a subset of "mini toe bean-reminiscent" structures composed of gas, dust and young stars, according to NASA. The Webb telescope's NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) was able to capture a clear image of the forming stars. "Three years into its mission, Webb continues to deliver on its design – revealing previously hidden aspects of the universe, from the star formation process to some of the earliest galaxies," said Shawn Domagal-Goldman, acting director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington, in a statement. The progression from a large molecular cloud to massive stars entails multiple steps, which are not yet well understood by astronomers, according to NASA. The Cat's Paw Nebula enables astronomers to study the turbulent cloud-to-star process in great detail. The process of star formation is somewhat fleeting, according to NASA. As massive young stars carve away at nearby gas and dust, their bright starlight produces a bright nebulous glow, represented in the image in blue. The "disruptive" young stars have a brief but important role in the region's larger story, according to NASA. MORE: NASA catches a glimpse of 'city-killer' asteroid before it disappears until 2028 In the photo, the orange-brown tiers represent stardust, while small patches represent seemingly vacant zones that indicate the presence of dense foreground filaments of dust that are home to still-forming stars, astronomers said. The small, fiery red clumps seen scattered amongst the brown dust toward the center of the photo mark regions where massive star formation is underway, according to NASA. Some massive blue-white stars, such as the one seen in the lower left toe bean, appear more sharply solved than others because any intervening material between the star and the telescope was dissipated by stellar radiation, the space agency said. An "eye-catching" aspect is the bright, red-orange oval at the top right of the photo, which is likely dense area just beginning its star-formation process, implied by the low count of background stars, according to NASA. The Webb telescope launched in December 2021 and began scientific operations in July 2022, according to NASA. With its sharp resolution, it has the capability to peer farther into space than ever before and continues to reveal parts of the universe that were previously unknown by using infrared light observations. MORE: Astronomers discover repeating radio bursts from distant 'dead' galaxy The telescope "repeatedly" breaks its own records while also uncovering the unknowns of the universe, Domagal-Goldman said. "Whether it's following up on the mysteries of dark matter with NASA's nearly complete Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, or narrowing our search for life to Earth-like planets with the Habitable Worlds Observatory, the questions Webb has raised are just as exciting as the answers it's giving us," Domagal-Goldman said.
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Webb telescope captures images of new stars forming in Cat's Paw Nebula
New images taken by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope show young stars forming within a "toe bean" on the Cat's Paw Nebula. The Cat's Paw Nebula is named after its resemblance to a feline footprint: The nebula appears to have three toes, colloquially called "toe beans," and a wider heel. The nebula is near the Scorpius constellation and is about 4,000 light-years from Earth, NASA said in a news release. The James Webb Telescope focused its Near-Infrared Camera on one of the "toe beans" to look through the gas and dust that make up the nebula. The telescope found an "active star-forming region." The young stars, shown in yellow, appear to be "carving away at nearby gas and dust," NASA said. The stars are also emitting bright light, represented in blue in the Webb images. Glowing red spots in the Webb images show areas where star formation is underway, NASA said. Other stars look blue-white. These ones have no radiation between themselves and Webb's camera, NASA said. At the bottom of the "toe bean" are small, dense filaments of dust that may be dense enough to collapse in on themselves and begin the process of becoming stars. The dust itself is imaged in brown. The colorful scene is temporary, NASA said, but will shape the area's future. "As a consequence of these massive stars' lively behavior, the local star formation process will eventually come to a stop," NASA said. The images were released to celebrate the third anniversary of the telescope, which launched in July 2022. Since then, it has made a number of discoveries, including showing that the universe evolved faster than astronomers believed, NASA said. The telescope has also imaged a number of stars and planets, and identified asteroids that might come near Earth. "Three years into its mission, Webb continues to deliver on its design – revealing previously hidden aspects of the universe, from the star formation process to some of the earliest galaxies," said Shawn Domagal-Goldman, acting director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "... The questions Webb has raised are just as exciting as the answers it's giving us." Social media content creator shows his hustle Udemy Is Powering Enterprise AI Transformation Through Skills Surveillance video shows Israeli strike that killed 10 children at Gaza clinic
