Latest news with #NIRCam
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
UVU-led team finds evidence challenging universe expansion rate models
In this mosaic image stretching 340 light-years across, Webb's Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) displays the Tarantula Nebula star-forming region in a new light, including tens of thousands of never-before-seen young stars that were previously shrouded in cosmic dust. The most active region appears to sparkle with massive young stars, appearing pale blue. (Courtesy of NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production Team) A new Utah Valley University study is providing new evidence in a debate astronomers across the world haven't been able to agree on — how fast the universe is expanding. The findings may add more fuel to what has been known as the Hubble Tension, a disagreement between scientists on how to best calculate the expansion rate of the universe. According to a study led by UVU astrophysicist Joseph Jensen in collaboration with other astronomers from Arizona, Maryland, Hawaii and Italy, the universe is expanding faster than current theories predict. The researchers used ultra-precise data from NASA's Hubble and James Webb telescopes, and the agency's Dark Energy Camera, which is mounted on the U.S. National Science Foundation's Víctor M. Blanco Telescope, to calculate galactic distances through an independent measuring method. According to a UVU news release, 'this allowed them to bypass traditional distance measurement methods.' 'This is a major step forward,' Jensen said in a statement. 'By using a completely independent method with the power of [the James Webb Space Telescope], we've confirmed that the universe is expanding faster than our best theories say it should. That means there's likely something fundamental that we're still missing in our understanding of the cosmos.' Astrophysicists have debated the growing discrepancy between the predicted and observed expansion rates, aiming to determine whether the inconsistencies are because of measurement errors, or theoretical flaws. The new study calculated the current universe expansion rate, or Hubble constant, to be 73.8 kilometers per second per megaparsec, a number significantly higher than the 67.5 value predicted by widely accepted models, according to the release. 'We're not saying the standard model is wrong,' Jensen said. 'But it's clearly incomplete. These results help us move closer to understanding what might be missing.' Essentially, this new data gives clues on how old the universe is, what it is made of, and how it was created, the university says. Researchers hope to reach more precise answers in the next few years through the telescopes' observations. In recognition of the team's approach NASA awarded them three additional James Webb Space Telescope observing programs to expand measurements to more than 100 elliptical galaxies, bringing about $220,000 in research funding to Utah Valley University. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Solve the daily Crossword
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?
Forbes
08-07-2025
- Science
- Forbes
Where Is Jupiter? Don't Miss The Giant Planet's Comeback On Wednesday
This image of Jupiter from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope's NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) shows ... More stunning details of the majestic planet in infrared light.
Time of India
25-06-2025
- Science
- Time of India
Top 10 breathtaking images by NASA's James Webb Telescope
Since July 2022, the James Webb Space Telescope has revolutionized our cosmic understanding, delivering breathtaking images. Its ability to penetrate interstellar dust reveals galaxies, nebulae, and star clusters in unprecedented detail. From the Pillars of Creation to distant galaxy clusters, JWST provides fresh insights into star formation, galactic interactions, and the early universe. The James Webb Space Telescope started functioning in July 2022, and ever since then, it has given a new perspective to our understanding of the universe by providing some breathtaking images of the cosmos. JWST has an unparalleled ability to peer through interstellar dust and probe the infrared spectrum has allowed humanity to see each subject in a fresh, revealing way. Photos from this technological advancement have given pictures of everything, from deep galaxy clusters to local solar system neighbours. Here are some outstanding images taken by the James Webb Telescope Arp 142 This Webb portrait of interacting galaxies, Arp 142, nicknamed the Penguin and the Egg, shows tidally distorted spirals in infrared, 326 million light‑years away in Hydra. The image reveals gas, dust, and star‑forming regions sparked by a galactic collision, clearly depicting Webb's power to study cosmic interactions. Pillars of Creation JWST revisited these iconic gas-dust columns in the Eagle Nebula, which is 6,500 ly away, using NIRCam, exposing nascent stars and dusty interiors. Compared to Hubble, Webb penetrates deeper, giving details within the pillars where stars are actively forming El Gordo cluster The El Gordo galaxy cluster acts as a gravitational lens, magnifying galaxies over 10 billion light‑years distant. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Giao dịch vàng CFDs với sàn môi giới tin cậy IC Markets Tìm hiểu thêm Undo Webb's infrared view shows hundreds of faint, early-universe galaxies, providing new insight into cosmic infancy and dark matter distribution. Tarantula Nebula R anging as far as 340 light‑years in the Large Magellanic Cloud, this JWST mosaic shows tens of thousands of young stars seen in visible light. Webb's infrared sharpness also depicts the details of star formation processes in one of the Local Group's brightest nebulae. Phantom Galaxy (M74) Webb's MIRI observation of the Phantom Galaxy in infrared highlights spiral dust lanes and a bright nuclear cluster. Its resolution provides new clues to dust distribution, star formation patterns, and galactic core dynamics 32 Mly away. Jupiter Citizen scientists processed Webb's NIRCam and MIRI images to produce a stunning portrait of Jupiter, showing cloud bands, auroras, rings, and the Great Red Spot. It's the sharpest JWST image of our solar system, showing planetary atmospheric features and satellites. Cartwheel Galaxy Webb combined NIRCam and MIRI data to produce a unique view of the Cartwheel Galaxy, which has a ring shape from a past collision 400 Myr ago, located ~500 Mly away. The image shows hot dust, young stars, and a central black hole. Sagittarius C This dense NIRCam image captures a 50‑light-year area in the Milky Way's core, containing around half a million stars. It's one of the richest, most detailed datasets of protostars near Sagittarius A*, This photo helps in the studies of star formation under extreme conditions. Herbig-Haro 211 Webb's NIRCam portrait of HH 211 shows gas jets and shockwaves from newborn stars colliding with nearby dust and gas. The clarity helps astronomers to analyse jet speeds, directions, and their influence on early stellar evolution. Carina Nebula Known as the 'cosmic cliffs,' Webb's NIRCam captured massive gas pillars up to seven light‑years tall in Carina that stand about 8,500 ly away. These glowing structures show active star-forming zones eroded by UV radiation. Photo Credits: Credit: NASA , ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production Team
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
1.5TB of Webb Telescope Data Made Available for Public Use
Open science just got a stellar upgrade. On Thursday, NASA-backed COSMOS-Web made 1.5 terabytes of the James Webb Space Telescope's observational data available online, free of charge. It's the biggest trove of raw deep-space data ever opened to the public at a given time. COSMOS-Web, the Webb telescope's continuation of Hubble's 590-orbit Cosmic Evolution Survey, involves more than 200 researchers from a dozen countries. The project aims to expand astronomers' understanding of the Reionization Era (the billion years immediately following the Big Bang), track the evolution of massive galaxies in the universe's first two billion years, and unravel dark matter's entanglement with visible matter within galaxies. Between Webb's 2021 launch and June 2025, COSMOS-Web has conducted over 250 hours of observations across 150 visits. The result is a vast raw data catalog containing "photometry, structural measurements, redshifts, and physical parameters for nearly 800,000 galaxies," per the COSMOS-Web team. Accompanying the catalog are mosaics from Webb's NIRCam (Near Infrared Camera) and MIRI (Mid Infrared Instrument), which together mapped a total of 0.74 square degrees of sky—roughly the area of four full moons. COSMOS-Web NIRCam mosaic (upper left) with zoom-ins to the region surrounding the COSMOS-Web Ring (upper right). Credit: COSMOS-Web Though the data in COSMOS2025 was made available as soon as it was obtained, "only those with specialized technical knowledge and supercomputer access are able to process them into a form useful for scientific analyses," the team said. In contrast, the catalog consists of what was left after COSMOS-Web sifted out artifacts, subtracted background noise, reduced duplicate data, and improved the astrometry. This doesn't just make the data more accessible to research institutions and citizen scientists; it also sets a foundation for calibrating future surveys and observatories. "In today's climate, open, accessible science is more important than ever," COSMOS-Web's statement reads. "Anyone in the world can now access the same catalogs and images used by the COSMOS collaboration…This collective spirit has been remarkably successful in continuously reinvigorating the team over the past twenty years."
