NASA has released the first stunning images of the Orion Nebula from the James Webb Space Telescope in a study in the journal Science that shows with unprecedented precision how massive stars impact the formation of planetary systems.
NASA has released the first stunning images of the Orion Nebula from the James Webb Space Telescope in a study in the journal Science that shows with unprecedented precision how massive stars impact the formation of planetary systems.
The international research team includes Rice University astronomer Patrick Hartigan and was led by Olivier Berné, a research scientist in astrophysics at France’s National Center for Scientific Research.
“This work is important because it explores how radiation from nearby massive stars affects solar systems and stars,” Hartigan said. “Most stars and planets are born in these environments, where ultraviolet radiation may evaporate circumstellar disks before planets have enough time to fully form. In this project, the Webb telescope targeted a protostar located just outside the ionization front in the Orion Nebula. Ultraviolet radiation penetrating through the front to the protostar is responsible for photoevaporation in the disk.”
Read more at: Rice University
Hubble image of the Orion Nebula and a zoom in on the protoplanetary disc d203-506 taken with the James Webb Space Telescope. (Photo Credit: NASA/STScl/Rice U./C O’Dell et al/O. Berné, I. Schrotter, PDRs4All)
