See elements as colors in this galaxy where stars are being born

By Georgina Torbet August 6, 2022

From Hubble to the James Webb Space Telescope, when you think of the tools that capture images of space some of the first examples that come to mind are likely to be space-based telescopes. These telescopes have the advantage of being above the water vapor in Earth’s atmosphere which can distort readings, and allows them to look out at the universe in great detail. But there are advantages of ground-based telescopes as well, such as being able to build much larger structures and to more easily upgrade these telescopes with new instruments.

One such ground-based telescope is the European Southern Observatory (ESO)’s Very Large Telescope. As the name suggests it is indeed very large, being made up of four separate telescopes each of which has an 8.2-meter (27 feet) primary mirror and which work together to look out at space in the visible light and infrared wavelengths. On the telescope named Yepun sits an instrument called MUSE, or the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE), which uses a technology called adaptive optics to collect high-resolution data about areas of space.

Spiral galaxy NGC 4303, also known as Messier 61,. — An image of the spiral galaxy NGC 4303, also known as Messier 61, which is one of the largest galactic members of the Virgo Cluster. Being a so-called starburst galaxy, it has an unusually high amount of stars being born and has been used by astronomers as a laboratory to better understand the fascinating phenomena of star formation. ESO/PHANGS

ESO recently shared this image taken by the MUSE instrument, showing the stunning spiral galaxy NGC 4303. This image represents spectroscopy data which has been colorized to show different elements which are present, collected as part of the Physics at High Angular resolution in Nearby GalaxieS (PHANGS) project. This galaxy is a type called a starburst galaxy, meaning it is a site of vigorous star formation, and studying it can help us learn about how stars are born.

Recommended Videos

“Stars form when clouds of cold gas collapse,” ESO explains. “The energetic radiation from newly born stars will heat and ionize the surrounding remaining gas. The ionized gas will shine, acting as a beacon of ongoing star formation. In this stunning and jewel-like image, this glowing gas can be seen as the whirlpool of gold: the direct traces of stars being born.

“The golden glow is a result of combining observations taken at different wavelengths of light with the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile. Here gas clouds of ionized oxygen, hydrogen, and sulfur are shown in blue, green, and red, respectively.”

Topics

Tech News

Georgina Torbet

Space Writer

Georgina has been the space writer at Digital Trends space writer for six years, covering human space exploration, planetary…

Space

James Webb Telescope captures gorgeous galaxy with a hungry monster at its heart

Featured in this new image from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope is Messier 106, also known as NGC 4258. This is a nearby spiral galaxy that resides roughly 23 million light-years away in the constellation Canes Venatici, practically a neighbour by cosmic standards. Messier 106 is one of the brightest and nearest spiral galaxies to our own and two supernovae have been observed in this galaxy in 1981 and 2014.

A new image from the James Webb Space Telescope shows off a nearby galaxy called Messier 106 -- a spiral galaxy that is particularly bright. At just 23 million light-years away (that's relatively close by galactic standards), this galaxy is of particular interest to astronomers due to its bustling central region, called an active galactic nucleus.

The high level of activity in this central region is thought to be due to the monster that lurks at the galaxy's heart. Like most galaxies including our own, Messier 106 has an enormous black hole called a supermassive black hole at its center. However, the supermassive black hole in Messier 106 is particularly active, gobbling up material like dust and gas from the surrounding area. In fact, this black hole eats so much matter that as it spins, it warps the disk of gas around it, which creates streamers of gas flying out from this central region.

Space

James Webb snaps a colorful image of a star in the process of forming

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. The more diffuse blue light and the filamentary structures in the image come from organic compounds known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), while the red at the center of this image is an energized, thick layer of gases and dust that surrounds the protostar. The region in between, which shows up in white, is a mixture of PAHs, ionized gas, and other molecules.

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.

Space

See a stunning 3D visualization of astronomy’s most beautiful object

This image is a mosaic of visible-light and infrared-light views of the same frame from the Pillars of Creation visualization. The three-dimensional model of the pillars created for the visualization sequence is alternately shown in the Hubble Space Telescope version (visible light) and the Webb Space Telescope version (infrared light).

This image is a mosaic of visible-light and infrared-light views of the same frame from the Pillars of Creation visualization. The three-dimensional model of the pillars created for the visualization sequence is alternately shown in the Hubble Space Telescope version (visible light) and the Webb Space Telescope version (infrared light). Greg Bacon (STScI), Ralf Crawford (STScI), Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Leah Hustak (STScI), Christian Nieves (STScI), Joseph Olmsted (STScI), Alyssa Pagan (STScI), Frank Summers (STScI), NASA's Universe of Learning

The Pillars of Creation are perhaps the most famous object in all of astronomy. Part of the Eagle Nebula, this vista was first captured by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1995, and has captivated the public ever since with its dramatic rising pillars of dust and gas that stretch several light-years high. The nebula has been imaged often since then, including again by Hubble in 2014 and more recently by the James Webb Space Telescope in 2022.