Star Formation in Nearby Galaxy

Produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute’s Office of Public Outreach in collaboration with NASA’s Universe of Learning partners: Caltech/IPAC, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

 

Video imagery:

·       NGC 346 in the Small Magellanic Cloud: NASA, ESA, CSA, Olivia C. Jones (UK ATC), Guido De Marchi (ESTEC), Margaret Meixner (USRA)

Writer: Leah Ramsay

Designer: Leah Hustak

Science review: Dr. Kelly Lepo

Education review: Jim Manning

Music from Music for Non-Profits

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A montage of celestial images scrolls by. Title, News from the Universe. The text sits above a planet.

 

Text, January 23, 2023, Star formation in a nearby galaxy. Image, We zoom in to see a massive pink and orange galaxy covered with stars. Text, The James Webb Space Telescope has revealed surprises in a star-forming region in the Small Magellanic Cloud, a nearby dwarf galaxy.

 

The image slowly scrolls up from the bottom to the top of the screen to show the detailed clumps and patterns in the galaxy. Text, Webb shows the region's dust in detail for the first time, and there's more of it than expected. The image continues to scroll.

 

Text, Webb's infrared instruments also reveal less-massive stars and protostars than could be studied previously.

 

The Small Magellanic Cloud has lighter-colored ridges and waves stacked one over the other. Text, The galaxy's low concentrations of elements that are heavier than hydrogen or helium make it a proxy for galaxies in the early universe.

 

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The image is broken up into five vertical bars to show different sections of the galaxy next to each other. Sections one, three, and five scroll down, while sections two and four scroll up. Text, Does the different chemical makeup of dust in the Small Magellanic Cloud change the star and planet formation process?

 

Astronomers will continue studying Webb's data to find answers. White, red, pink, and yellow colors are mixed into the galaxy.

 

Text, This news was partly brought to you by the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, MD.