Theme: Star and Planet Formation
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Text, Viewspace. The show will continue in 15 seconds. Coming up: Use infrared light to see stars and planets form.
The timer at top right counts down from 15 seconds.
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[COSMIC MUSIC]
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The text appears on a background of stars which move slowly towards and past us.
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[DOWNBEAT MUSIC]
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Galaxy of white, brown, and red
Galaxy of white, brown, and red
The universe is full of dust
stars and dust swirl, forming a spiral galaxy
We see regions and lanes of dust within galaxies.
Clouds of dust collapse and condense to form stars and planets.
stars float among clouds
It even drifts in the spaces between galaxies.
But where does dust come from?
Cosmic dust comes from stars.
Stars spew dust as they grow older.
And when massive stars explode, they can give off huge amounts of dust.
This supernova, SN 1987A, was observed giving off enough dust to build 160,000 to 230,000 Earths.
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[DOWNBEAT MUSIC]
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A bright red star shines in the middle of a cloud of red dust, other stars, and orange dust.
Text, Hubble image of V838 Monocerotis. This is V838 Monocerotis, a red supergiant star surrounded by a cloud of dust. In 2002, it gave off a flashbulb-like pulse of light that illuminated the shell of dust around it.
The star from a distance. A small red sphere is encased in a large beige and white sphere of dust clouds amongst black space and tiny scattered stars. The dust appears to shift.
Text, As the light pulse expands, so does our view of the dust.
The dust cloud appears more distant to the red star.
Text, The universe will eventually recycle the dust and turn it into new stars.
A cluster of bright blue-white stars surrounds the dust cloud, with the red star in the center.
(SPEECH)
[ELECTRONIC MUSIC]
(DESCRIPTION)
A black and white picture of a minotaur in the top left. A color picture of a nebula in the top right.
Text, MYTH versus REALITY.
The myth side is highlighted.
Text, The space between planets, stars, and galaxies is empty.
The reality side is highlighted.
Text, Space is very low density compared to Earth's atmosphere, but it is not empty. Gas, dust, and dark matter fill the space between planets, stars, and galaxies.
(SPEECH)
[DOWNBEAT MUSIC]
(DESCRIPTION)
Stars and galaxies beyond the curve of a planet.
Text, at-a-GLANCE. SEEING THE INVISIBLE.
A galaxy.
Text, Andromeda Galaxy. VISIBLE LIGHT. Dust in this galaxy hides young stars forming within.
How do we know?
The galaxy in infrared. Many more stars appear.
Text, INFRARED LIGHT. We can see them when we look in infrared light.
How does this work?
Our eyes can only see visible light.
A light spectrum appears on a black background with a wavy line under it.
Text, ULTRAVIOLET. VISIBLE LIGHT. INFRARED.
Left, a man holds a black plastic bag. Right, the same picture in infrared. The man's body glows orange. His hands are visible through the bag.
Text, VISIBLE-LIGHT CAMERA. INFRARED-LIGHT CAMERA. Our bodies are designed to perceive infrared light as heat, but we can also build cameras to detect infrared light.
VISIBLE LIGHT WAVES. Visible light has short wavelengths.
A star shines a beam of light down onto a cloud. Inside the cloud, rays of light bounce off particles or are absorbed.
Text, When they travel through clouds of gas and dust, the light waves are stopped and deflected by the cloud's particles.
One ray of light exits the cloud.
Text, INFRARED LIGHT WAVES.
View the cloud through glasses. It turns purple. Waves emanate from an orange center.
Text, Infrared light has long wavelengths.
A star shines a beam of light onto a cloud. The rays travel through the cloud, avoiding the particles. Most exit the cloud.
Text, When they travel through clouds of gas and dust, most of the light waves make it to the outside.
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[ELECTRONIC MUSIC]
(DESCRIPTION)
Text, Hubble image of the Carina Nebula. Stars form when clouds of gas and dust collapse into dense clumps.
As the objects get denser and hotter, they begin to shine.
Yet we still have gaps in our knowledge of how stars form.
How do the dust clouds collapse to create stars?
Why do stars form mostly in groups?
How do planets form with them?
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[NEW-AGE MUSIC]
(DESCRIPTION)
Hubble image of stellar jet in the Carina Nebula VISIBLE LIGHT. Newborn stars are surrounded by clouds of dust that block visible light, sealing the stars' glow inside their dusty cocoons.
But infrared light can penetrate clouds of dust, passing through that barrier.
Hubble image of stellar jet in the Carina Nebula INFRARED LIGHT
The Webb Telescope studies infrared light from these newborn stars, helping scientists narrow down ideas about star formation.
Hubble image of the Omega Centauri star cluster. Stars differ from one another.
ILLUSTRATION, A small red orb and a large gray orb. Text, Some are small and dim.
The sun above an ocean horizon. Text, Others are medium-sized and yellow, like our sun.
Hubble image of the Crab Nebula. Still others are immensely massive, burning through their fuel quickly and exploding as supernovas.
Webb is helping us learn why massive stars seem to form in certain regions of space and what limits their sizes.
Hubble image of the Orion Nebula. Webb also helps us learn about the different phases of star formation and how a star evolves from one stage to another.
Four squares, a star surrounded by dark material inside each one. Text, In certain early stages, a star is surrounded by a disk of gas and dust called a circumstellar disc, leftover material from the gas cloud that collapsed to form the star.
Planets can form in these disks of dust, slowly coalescing from the scraps of star formation
Illustration of planet formation
Dust clouds move and change colors.
An orange cloud forms a ring with a yellow center.
The outer portions expand into a larger circle. Small dark orbs move around it.
A small orb glows in the surrounding darkness.
Text, Ground-based image of Barnard 68, Visible Light. Webb helps us look for these young stars and planetary nurseries, which glow in infrared light.
Ground-based image of Barnard 68, Infrared Light. More stars are now visible.
Text, Webb’s sharp vision allows us to study them in greater detail.
Rings around a planet. Text, ILLUSTRATION. Scientists hope to learn about some of the factors that influence not only the formation of stars, but the formation of planets
How do planets form?
What factors give us giant gas planets, like Jupiter …
or give us small, rocky planets, like Earth?
Elsewhere in our galaxy, we have found giant planets orbiting very close to their stars as well as planets orbiting stars cooler than our sun.
What made our solar system different from those?
Spitzer Space Telescope image of the Orion Nebula INFRARED LIGHT. Building on the discoveries of infrared telescopes like the Spitzer Space Telescope, Webb’s powerful infrared vision moves us closer to solving mysteries about our very existence …
how our star and planet came to be ...
and how many more solar systems may be waiting out there in the cosmos.
(SPEECH)
(SPEECH)
[DOWNBEAT MUSIC]
(DESCRIPTION)
A bright red star shines in the middle of a cloud of red dust, other stars, and orange dust.
Text, Hubble image of V838 Monocerotis. This is V838 Monocerotis, a red supergiant star surrounded by a cloud of dust. In 2002, it gave off a flashbulb-like pulse of light that illuminated the shell of dust around it.
The star from a distance. A small red sphere is encased in a large beige and white sphere of dust clouds amongst black space and tiny scattered stars. The dust appears to shift.
Text, As the light pulse expands, so does our view of the dust.
The dust cloud appears more distant to the red star.
Text, The universe will eventually recycle the dust and turn it into new stars.
A cluster of bright blue-white stars surrounds the dust cloud, with the red star in the center.
(SPEECH)
[ELECTRONIC MUSIC]
(DESCRIPTION)
A black and white picture of a minotaur in the top left. A color picture of a nebula in the top right.
Text, MYTH versus REALITY.
The myth side is highlighted.
Text, The space between planets, stars, and galaxies is empty.
The reality side is highlighted.
Text, Space is very low density compared to Earth's atmosphere, but it is not empty. Gas, dust, and dark matter fill the space between planets, stars, and galaxies.
(SPEECH)
[DOWNBEAT MUSIC]
(DESCRIPTION)
Stars and galaxies beyond the curve of a planet.
Text, at-a-GLANCE. SEEING THE INVISIBLE.
A galaxy.
Text, Andromeda Galaxy. VISIBLE LIGHT. Dust in this galaxy hides young stars forming within.
How do we know?
The galaxy in infrared. Many more stars appear.
Text, INFRARED LIGHT. We can see them when we look in infrared light.
How does this work?
Our eyes can only see visible light.
A light spectrum appears on a black background with a wavy line under it.
Text, ULTRAVIOLET. VISIBLE LIGHT. INFRARED.
Left, a man holds a black plastic bag. Right, the same picture in infrared. The man's body glows orange. His hands are visible through the bag.
Text, VISIBLE-LIGHT CAMERA. INFRARED-LIGHT CAMERA. Our bodies are designed to perceive infrared light as heat, but we can also build cameras to detect infrared light.
VISIBLE LIGHT WAVES. Visible light has short wavelengths.
A star shines a beam of light down onto a cloud. Inside the cloud, rays of light bounce off particles or are absorbed.
Text, When they travel through clouds of gas and dust, the light waves are stopped and deflected by the cloud's particles.
One ray of light exits the cloud.
Text, INFRARED LIGHT WAVES.
View the cloud through glasses. It turns purple. Waves emanate from an orange center.
Text, Infrared light has long wavelengths.
A star shines a beam of light onto a cloud. The rays travel through the cloud, avoiding the particles. Most exit the cloud.
Text, When they travel through clouds of gas and dust, most of the light waves make it to the outside.
(SPEECH)
[ELECTRONIC MUSIC]
(DESCRIPTION)
Text, Hubble image of the Carina Nebula. Stars form when clouds of gas and dust collapse into dense clumps.
As the objects get denser and hotter, they begin to shine.
Yet we still have gaps in our knowledge of how stars form.
How do the dust clouds collapse to create stars?
Why do stars form mostly in groups?
How do planets form with them?
(SPEECH)
[NEW-AGE MUSIC]
(DESCRIPTION)
Hubble image of stellar jet in the Carina Nebula VISIBLE LIGHT. Newborn stars are surrounded by clouds of dust that block visible light, sealing the stars' glow inside their dusty cocoons.
But infrared light can penetrate clouds of dust, passing through that barrier.
Hubble image of stellar jet in the Carina Nebula INFRARED LIGHT
The Webb Telescope studies infrared light from these newborn stars, helping scientists narrow down ideas about star formation.
Hubble image of the Omega Centauri star cluster. Stars differ from one another.
ILLUSTRATION, A small red orb and a large gray orb. Text, Some are small and dim.
The sun above an ocean horizon. Text, Others are medium-sized and yellow, like our sun.
Hubble image of the Crab Nebula. Still others are immensely massive, burning through their fuel quickly and exploding as supernovas.
Webb is helping us learn why massive stars seem to form in certain regions of space and what limits their sizes.
Hubble image of the Orion Nebula. Webb also helps us learn about the different phases of star formation and how a star evolves from one stage to another.
Four squares, a star surrounded by dark material inside each one. Text, In certain early stages, a star is surrounded by a disk of gas and dust called a circumstellar disc, leftover material from the gas cloud that collapsed to form the star.
Planets can form in these disks of dust, slowly coalescing from the scraps of star formation
Illustration of planet formation
Dust clouds move and change colors.
An orange cloud forms a ring with a yellow center.
The outer portions expand into a larger circle. Small dark orbs move around it.
A small orb glows in the surrounding darkness.
Text, Ground-based image of Barnard 68, Visible Light. Webb helps us look for these young stars and planetary nurseries, which glow in infrared light.
Ground-based image of Barnard 68, Infrared Light. More stars are now visible.
Text, Webb’s sharp vision allows us to study them in greater detail.
Rings around a planet. Text, ILLUSTRATION. Scientists hope to learn about some of the factors that influence not only the formation of stars, but the formation of planets
How do planets form?
What factors give us giant gas planets, like Jupiter …
or give us small, rocky planets, like Earth?
Elsewhere in our galaxy, we have found giant planets orbiting very close to their stars as well as planets orbiting stars cooler than our sun.
What made our solar system different from those?
Spitzer Space Telescope image of the Orion Nebula INFRARED LIGHT. Building on the discoveries of infrared telescopes like the Spitzer Space Telescope, Webb’s powerful infrared vision moves us closer to solving mysteries about our very existence …
how our star and planet came to be ...
and how many more solar systems may be waiting out there in the cosmos.
(SPEECH)
[SLOW ELECTRONIC MUSIC]
(DESCRIPTION)
A star cluster of bright stars surrounded by orange gas and dust.
A star cluster of bright stars surrounded by orange gas and dust.
Text, Hubble image of star cluster in 30 Doradus. This is a star cluster in 30 Doradus, the most active star-forming region we know of in any nearby galaxy.
These bright blue stars are massive and young.
Their strong stellar winds sculpt the gas around them and compress it to create new waves of star birth.
(SPEECH)
[ELECTRONIC MUSIC]
(DESCRIPTION)
A black and white picture of a minotaur on the top left. A color picture of a nebula on the top right.
Text, MYTH versus REALITY
Myth side
Text, The James Webb Space Telescope can see the same things the Hubble Space Telescope sees.
Reality side
Text, Hubble sees mostly visible light, while Webb is designed to observe infrared light. While Hubble can view some wavelengths of the infrared sky, Webb’s vision extends much farther into the infrared than Hubble can observe. Webb will also have a much larger mirror than Hubble. It can see fainter objects, more-distant objects, and stars that are hidden from Hubble's view.
(SPEECH)
[DOWNBEAT MUSIC]
(DESCRIPTION)
A large reddish orange nebula with wisps of purple and blue gas. A visible light indicator.
Text, Hubble image of pillars and jets in the Carina Nebula. Stars are forming within this pillar of gas and dust in the Carina Nebula.
An infrared light indicator. The nebula in infrared is mostly shades of gray. Many red and orange stars are now visible.
Text, Infrared light, which the Webb Telescope is designed to detect, penetrates that dust, allowing us to see through some of the cloud to the stars within.
(SPEECH)
[ELECTRONIC MUSIC]
(DESCRIPTION)
A black and white picture of a minotaur on the top left. A color picture of a nebula on the top right.
Text, MYTH versus REALITY
Myth side
Text, The James Webb Space Telescope can see the same things the Hubble Space Telescope sees.
Reality side
Text, Hubble sees mostly visible light, while Webb is designed to observe infrared light. While Hubble can view some wavelengths of the infrared sky, Webb’s vision extends much farther into the infrared than Hubble can observe. Webb will also have a much larger mirror than Hubble. It can see fainter objects, more-distant objects, and stars that are hidden from Hubble's view.
(SPEECH)
[DOWNBEAT MUSIC]
(DESCRIPTION)
A large reddish orange nebula with wisps of purple and blue gas. A visible light indicator.
Text, Hubble image of pillars and jets in the Carina Nebula. Stars are forming within this pillar of gas and dust in the Carina Nebula.
An infrared light indicator. The nebula in infrared is mostly shades of gray. Many red and orange stars are now visible.
Text, Infrared light, which the Webb Telescope is designed to detect, penetrates that dust, allowing us to see through some of the cloud to the stars within.