Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, JWST image
James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) image of a star forming region in the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex. This is the closest star forming region to Earth, located around 390 light years away. There are around 50 young stars in this view, all similar in mass to our Sun or smaller, with the exception of S1, which can be seen in a 'cave' of gas just below the centre of the image. There are shadows around some of the stars, indicating the presence of protoplanetary disks, the building blocks of future planetary systems. Molecular hydrogen is red. The lighter coloured cloud around S1 consists of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), one of the most abundant types of molecule in space. Image captured by JWST's Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam).
Size: 6110px × 5723px
Location:
Photo credit: © NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Klaus Pontoppidan (STScI)/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: -, -infrared, 4603, aromatic, astronomical, astronomy, astrophysical, astrophysics, camera, circumstellar, closest, cloud, complex, discs, disks, dust, emission, evolution, formation, forming, gas, hydrocarbons, hydrogen, ic, james, jwst, moecular, nebula, nebulae, nircam, nursery, ophiuchi, ophiuchus, pahs, polycyclic, protoplanetary, rho, s1, space, star, starbirth, stars, stellar, telescope, webb
