The Webb telescope was able to monitor the “pillars of creation”, which are cold dense clouds of hydrogen gas and dust, as he was able to visit one of the most beautiful scenes in the universe again, and what he captured looked like a classic painting.
They are the so-called “pillars of creation”, which are cold and dense clouds of hydrogen gas and dust in the Serpents star cluster, which is 6,500 light-years from Earth.
All large telescopes have been able to photograph this scene in the past, the most famous of which was the Hubble Observatory in 1995 and 2014. These pillars are located in the heart of what astronomers call (M16) Messiar 16, or the Eagle Nebula. It is an active star forming region.
The telescope, which contains infrared detectors, can see through the many light-scattering effects of plume dust, to examine the activity of newly born solar stars.
Prof Mark McGreen, chief science adviser at the European Space Agency, told the BBC: “I’ve been studying the Eagle Nebula since the mid-1990s, trying to see ‘inside’ the light-year-long pillars shown by the Hubble telescope, looking for young stars within. I always knew that when James Webb took pictures of the nebula, it would be amazing, and it really is.”
The nebula’s pillars are illuminated by intense ultraviolet light from nearby massive stars, which help shape and sculpt them. This radiation also dismantles the constellations in the nebula.
In fact, if you could magically transport yourself to this location today, it is very likely that these pillars no longer exist.
We only see it because we look at it in the past. The light detected by the Webb telescope took 6,500 years to reach its mirrors.
The James Webb Telescope is a collaborative project of the US, European and Canadian space agencies. It was launched in December last year and is considered the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope.
Source: BBC