L1527, shown in this image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument), is a molecular cloud that harbors a protostar. It resides about 460 light-years from Earth in the constellation Taurus. NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI A stunning new image from the James Webb Space Telescope shows a young star called a protostar and the huge outflows of dust and gas that are thrown out as it consumes material from its surrounding cloud.
This object has now been observed using two of Webb’s instruments: a previous version that was taken in the near-infrared with Webb’s NIRCam camera , and new data in the mid-infrared taken with Webb’s MIRI instrument. Looking in the infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum allows researchers to see through clouds of dust that would be opaque in the visible light range, showing the interior structures of clouds like this one — named L1527. This image shows interior structures called filaments that are formed of compounds called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and which are used to track star formation.
In the glowing red center of the image is the hot gas and dust around the protostar, from which it is feeding to grow larger. The protostar L1527, shown in this image from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam instrument. NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI, J.
DePasquale (STScI) The NIRCam image looks very different because this wavelength shows mostly light that is reflected off the dust, while this new .
