An “unprecedented” closeup image of the nearest star-forming region to Earth was released by Nasa on Wednesday to mark the first year of operation of the James Webb space telescope.
The vivid view of “sun-like” stars in the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex 390 light years away is the first time researchers have been able to see the area in fine detail, minus the distraction of foreground stars.
In a statement accompanying the image, the space agency calls it “a dynamic image that belies the region’s relative quiet – and practically begs for explanation of what exactly we are looking at”.
“Webb’s image of Rho Ophiuchi allows us to witness a very brief period in the stellar lifecycle with new clarity,” said Klaus Pontoppidan, a Webb project scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. “Our own sun experienced a phase like this, long ago, and now we have the technology to see the beginning of another star’s story.”
Some stars in the image displayed “tell-tale shadows indicating protoplanetary discs”, potential future planetary systems in the making, Nasa said.
The region contains approximately 50 young stars, all similar in mass to the sun or smaller. The image is dominated by what the agency says are huge red bipolar jets of molecular hydrogen, which occur when a star first bursts through its natal envelope of cosmic dust, shooting out a pair of opposing jets into space.
The £6.8bn Webb telescope was launched on Christmas Day 2021 as a partnership between Nasa and the European and Canadian space agencies. Billions overbudget and years behind schedule, it quickly won over many sceptics with a succession of never-before-seen images from the depths of space.
It has allowed humans to peer back closer towards the origins of the universe and delivered breathtaking high-resolution pictures of far-distant worlds and the mysterious structures that surround them.
The telescope has captured the “rare and fleeting” phase of a star on the cusp of death; early galaxies formed just 350m years after the big bang; and, in February, evidence of “universe breaker galaxies” far larger than scientists thought possible, with the potential to upend current theories of cosmology.
Last week Nasa revealed that Webb had discovered the most distant active supermassive black hole to date, Ceers 1019, which existed just over 570m years from the big bang.
“In just one year, the James Webb space telescope has transformed humanity’s view of the cosmos, peering into dust clouds and seeing light from faraway corners of the universe for the very first time,” Nasa’s administrator, Bill Nelson, said in a statement. “Every new image is a new discovery, empowering scientists around the globe to ask and answer questions they once could never dream of.
“Webb is an investment in American innovation but also a scientific feat made possible with Nasa’s international partners that share a can-do spirit to push the boundaries of what is known to be possible.
“Thousands of engineers, scientists and leaders poured their life’s passion into this mission, and their efforts will continue to improve our understanding of the origins of the universe and our place in it.”
The space agency has arranged a week-long “celebration” of the anniversary of Webb’s first images, including a livestream event on Wednesday night with scientists to discuss the telescope’s impact on exploration and human understanding of the solar system.
The event begins at 9pm BST (4pm ET) and will be broadcast on Nasa Live.
