Youre looking at NGC 346, a star cluster 210 light years away that is energetically pumping out brand new stars from a thick cloud of gas and dust. Between 10 and 11 billion years earlier, nearly all galaxies in the Universe went through an era of extreme star development similar to what we see in NGC 346.
To that end, scientists pointed the James Webb Space Telescopes NIRCam infrared camera at NGC 346 last year, and they revealed their initial findings at the American Astronomical Societys annual conference on January 11, 2023.
NGC 346, a star-forming cluster within the Small Magellanic Cloud, as seen by JWSTs NIRCam. Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, O. Jones (UK ATC), G. De Marchi (ESTEC), and M. Meixner (USRA). Image processing: A. Pagan (STScI), N. Habel (USRA), L. Lenkic (USRA) and L. Chu (NASA/Ames).
NGC 346 lies within the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), a dwarf galaxy that, as one of the Milky Ways nearest neighbors, shows up to the naked eye in the Southern Hemisphere. The rest of the SMC is not almost as active as NGC 346, and that lack of activity is regular for galaxies in the contemporary Universe.
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Youre looking at NGC 346, a star cluster 210 light years away that is energetically pumping out brand name brand-new stars from a thick cloud of gas and dust. Between 10 and 11 billion years ago, nearly all galaxies in the Universe went through an era of intense star formation comparable to what we see in NGC 346. Since then, star formation in the Universe has actually slowly dwindled, though it still blazes away in little pockets. The scientists are interested in seeing how star development in areas without heavy aspects might vary from star development in the heavy-element-rich Milky Way. As the stars grow, they change the nebula around them, wearing down gas and forming the ripples and ridges seen throughout the cluster.
Margaret Meixner, principal detective of the research study team, explains that things werent always so calm.
” A galaxy throughout cosmic twelve noon would not have one NGC 346, as the Small Magellanic Cloud does; it would have thousands,” she said. “But even if NGC 346 is now the one and just huge cluster furiously forming stars in its galaxy, it uses us a great opportunity to penetrate the conditions that remained in place at cosmic twelve noon.”
The researchers are interested in seeing how star development in areas without heavy elements might differ from star development in the heavy-element-rich Milky Way. NIRCam allows them to do that much better than ever previously, by choosing out small young stars that previous telescopes have not had the resolution to see.
Webb also enabled them to see dust in the accretion disk of protostars in the SMC for the very first time. That suggests there is potential for the formation of rocky worlds, instead of simply stars and gas giants.
” Were seeing the foundation, not only of stars, however also potentially of worlds,” stated co-investigator Guido De Marchi. “And considering that the Small Magellanic Cloud has a similar environment to galaxies throughout cosmic midday, its possible that rocky planets might have formed previously in deep space than we might have believed.”
The team is continuing to put over the information gathered, consisting of a spectroscopic analysis that will provide more info about the precise chemical makeup of the material in and around the protostars.
In the NIRCam image, the pink gas is hot, energized hydrogen, while the orange gas (like in the leading left) is cold, thick, molecular hydrogen. This cold, thick hydrogen is a perfect incubator for star development. As the stars grow, they change the nebula around them, eroding gas and forming the ripples and ridges seen throughout the cluster.
Find out More:
“Webb Inspects NGC 360.” ESA.
Olivia Jones et al. “Discovery of dirty sub-solar mass young excellent objects in NGC 346 with JWST/NIRCam.” ArXiv preprint.
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