Tag

Jwst

All articles tagged with #jwst

science2 days ago•3 min saved

JWST paints the Exposed Cranium Nebula in unprecedented detail

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope released two high‑resolution infrared images of the Exposed Cranium Nebula (PMR 1) using NIRCam and MIRI, revealing a brain‑like dark lane and distinct outer shell as a dying star sheds its layers; the two portraits—one from NIRCam and one from MIRI—show different internal details and illustrate Webb’s leap in resolution since the 2013 Spitzer image, while the star’s mass remains uncertain and its ultimate fate could be a supernova or a cooling white dwarf.

via PetaPixel|

#astronomy #exposed-cranium #jwst

space3 days ago•4 min saved

Brain-like Nebula Revealed by Webb’s Infrared View

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured new infrared views of PMR 1, the Exposed Cranium nebula, revealing a brain-like structure around a dying star. Webb’s NIRCam and MIRI images show that near-infrared light reveals more stars and background galaxies while mid-infrared highlights glowing dust and a dark central lane that contributes to the nebula’s split-brain appearance. The features trace an outer hydrogen shell and a richer inner gas cloud, hinting at past outbursts or jets. The star’s ultimate fate—whether it becomes a white dwarf or a supernova—depends on its mass, and Webb’s observations help illuminate how dying stars shed their envelopes.

via NASA Science (.gov)|

#exposed-cranium-nebula #jwst #miri

science8 days ago•6 min saved

JWST Discovers Hydrogen Sulfide on Distant Super-Jupiters, Illuminating Planet-Formation Paths

Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers detected hydrogen sulfide in the atmospheres of HR 8799’s inner gas giants (c, d, e), suggesting sulfur came from solid material in their birth disks and signaling a universal pattern of heavy-element enrichment during planet formation. The study also showcases a direct-imaging technique that could, in time, help study Earth-like worlds for biosignatures.

via The Daily Galaxy|

#exoplanets #hr-8799 #hydrogen-sulfide

space12 days ago•7 min saved

Webb Unmasks a New Class: The GJ 1214 b ‘Super Venus’

NASA’s JWST pierced the long-standing haze of exoplanet GJ 1214 b (about 47 light-years away) to detect carbon dioxide and methane in its thick atmosphere, suggesting a high-metallicity, greenhouse-like environment. This challenges the absence of such sub-Neptunes in our solar system and has led to a proposed new class, the “super Venus.” Further observations are needed to confirm the atmospheric structure and chemistry, but the finding marks a milestone in characterizing hazy exoplanets.

via Indian Defence Review|

#exoplanet #gj-1214-b #jwst

space13 days ago•96 min saved

JWST and Chandra spot massive protocluster that defies early-universe timing

Using JWST's infrared data and Chandra's X-ray observations, astronomers report JADES-ID1, a massive protocluster about 12.7 billion light-years away, containing at least 66 galaxies and a surrounding hot gas cloud; its mass is estimated at ~20 trillion suns and it spans ~1.1 million light-years, existing when the universe was ~1 billion years old, challenging models that such large structures should form later by 2–3 billion years after the Big Bang.

via Live Science|

#chandra #early-universe #jades-id1

space18 days ago•6 min saved

Cosmic Dawn Surprise: JWST Reveals a Massive Galaxy 400 Million Years After the Big Bang

JWST observations of CEERS2-588 at redshift 11.04 (about 400 million years after the Big Bang) reveal a surprisingly massive (≈1.26 billion solar masses) and metal-rich galaxy with a high star-formation rate (~8.2 solar masses per year) and no AGN activity, implying efficient, episodic starbursts and rapid quenching that challenge current models of early galaxy formation.

via The Daily Galaxy|

#ceers2-588 #early-universe #galaxy-formation

space22 days ago•6 min saved

Distant Gamma-Ray Burst at Redshift 7.3 Rewrites Early-Universe Star Deaths

A ten-second, ultra-distant gamma-ray burst (GRB 250314A) at z=7.3 (~13.1 billion years old) sparked a rapid, global follow-up, with JWST resolving its explosion as a supernova similar to modern Type II events. The findings imply massive stars were dying and enriching their surroundings within the universe’s first billion years, challenging Population III star death models and suggesting comparatively mature stellar processes occurred far earlier than previously thought.

via Indian Defence Review|

#astronomy #early-universe #gamma-ray-burst

science22 days ago•5 min saved

JWST Uncovers Direct-Collapse Black Hole Seeds Behind the Little Red Dots

The James Webb Space Telescope’s Little Red Dots are identified as accreting direct-collapse black holes formed directly from primordial gas in the early universe. Radiation–hydrodynamic simulations show these objects reproduce Webb’s observations—weak X-ray emission, metal and high-ionization lines, lack of star-formation features, compact sizes, and redshift evolution—solving the timing problem of how supermassive black holes could appear so early and signaling JWST is witnessing black hole seed formation.

via Universe Today|

#black-hole-seeds #direct-collapse-black-holes #early-universe

space24 days ago•79 min saved

Distant 'cold Earth' candidate HD 137010b teeters on the edge of its star's habitable zone

Astronomers analyzing Kepler/K2 data have identified a possible rocky exoplanet, HD 137010b, orbiting a K-type dwarf about 146 light-years away. It is expected to be about 1.06 times the diameter of Earth and complete an orbit roughly every 355 days, receiving around 29% of the Sun-like energy Earth gets. This places it at the outer edge of the star’s habitable zone, meaning its surface could be frozen unless it has a thick atmosphere. Only one transit has been observed, so the planet’s existence and exact conditions remain unconfirmed, but future observations by missions such as CHEOPS, TESS, PLATO, and JWST could help determine its reality and assess any atmosphere. The discovery paper notes a 40% chance of being in the conservative HZ, a 51% chance in the optimistic HZ, and a 50/50 chance of not being in the HZ at all.

via Space|

#exoplanet #habitable-zone #hd-137010b

science24 days ago•23 min saved

JWST: Pushing the Cosmos’ Deepest View Beyond Hubble

A Big Think column argues that the James Webb Space Telescope should pursue a record-breaking, deepest deep-field image by leveraging infrared wavelengths, long exposures, and gravitational lensing to reveal the faintest and most distant galaxies, surpassing Hubble and current JWST surveys and advancing our understanding of cosmic history.

via Big Think|

#astronomy #deep-field #galaxies

space27 days ago•55 min saved

JWST Spots MoM-z14, the Universe’s Oldest Galaxy Yet (280 Million Years After the Big Bang)

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope confirmed MoM-z14 as the most distant spectroscopically confirmed galaxy to date, seen as it emitted light about 280 million years after the Big Bang (redshift z=14.44). The galaxy is compact (roughly 240 light-years across) with a mass similar to the Small Magellanic Cloud, and shows rapid star formation and nitrogen-rich composition, suggesting early, globular-cluster–like stellar activity. The finding, first reported in a 2025 preprint and later peer‑reviewed in early 2026, challenges existing models of early galaxy formation and signals more discoveries to come, including with the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

via Live Science|

#earlyuniverse #galaxyformation #highredshift

space27 days ago•58 min saved

Cosmic time-delay twins could settle the universe’s expansion rate

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope under the VENUS program have identified two gravitationally lensed supernovas, SN Ares and SN Athena. The foreground galaxy cluster MJ0308 splits their light into multiple images; the delayed images will reach Earth in the future—Ares in about 60 years and Athena within the next 1–2 years—providing a rare, self-consistent way to measure cosmic distances and constrain the Hubble constant, potentially helping resolve the ongoing disagreement over the universe’s expansion rate.

via Live Science|

#gravitational-lensing #hubble-constant #jwst

astronomy1 month ago•21 min saved

JWST Spots Nine Cosmic Platypuses That Defy Classification

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have identified nine compact, point-like objects at redshifts 3.6–5.4 whose properties don’t fit neatly into stars, galaxies, quasars, or standard AGNs. They display narrow emission lines, lack resolvable host galaxies, and their light profiles differ from a true point source by about 10–20%, raising the possibility of a new class of objects—perhaps low-luminosity, hostless AGNs or unusual young galaxies—though their exact nature remains unclear pending deeper imaging and broader wavelength data. The discovery is framed as the cosmic equivalent of a platypus.

via Big Think|

#agn #astronomy #galaxies

stargazing1 month ago•49 min saved

Track Four Legendary Probes Across January’s Night Sky

Space.com guides readers to spot four legendary spacecraft—James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), Europa Clipper, JUICE, and Voyager 1—in January’s night sky, with finder charts and timing tips (including JWST’s path from Orion toward Jupiter and the planet’s January opposition). The piece also suggests using timeanddate or stargazing apps (Starry Night, Stellarium) for precise rise/set times and locations, and adds bonus targets around Orion’s Belt and the Orion Nebula.

via Space|

#europa-clipper #juice #jwst

space1 month ago•55 min saved

Pandora: NASA’s new star watcher to sharpen exoplanet hunt with Webb

NASA’s Pandora exoplanet telescope, launched Jan 11, 2026, will monitor target stars for long periods to map stellar activity and starspots that can distort exoplanet transits, enabling a joint Webb–Pandora approach to study exoplanet atmospheres. Smaller than JWST but designed for repeated observations (about 200 hours per target across ten revisits over a year), Pandora will help separate stellar noise from planetary signals and will operate in low Earth orbit with eventual control shifting to the University of Arizona, accelerating the quest to identify potentially habitable worlds.

via Live Science|

#exoplanets #jwst #pandora-telescope