The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) thread

HELLFIRE

https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasas-webb-observes-exoplanet-whose-composition-defies-explanation/ – NASA’s Webb Observes Exoplanet Whose Composition Defies Explanation

… Officially named PSR J2322-2650b, this Jupiter-mass object appears to have an exotic helium-and-carbon-dominated atmosphere unlike any ever seen before. … This planet-mass object was known to orbit a pulsar, a rapidly spinning neutron star. …

Anyone know when the next bus to PSR J2322-2650b is? Sounds like a fun place to visit! /snark

https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/a-dance-of-galaxies/ – A Dance of Galaxies

These two galaxies are named NGC 4490 and NGC 4485, and they’re located about 24 million light-years away in the constellation Canes Venatici (The Hunting Dogs). They are the closest known interacting dwarf-dwarf galaxy system where astronomers have observed the interactions between them, as well as been able to resolve the stars within.

Regards

HELLFIRE

https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasa-webb-finds-early-universe-analogs-unexpected-talent-for-making-dust/ – NASA Webb Finds Early-Universe Analog’s Unexpected Talent for Making Dust

Using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have spotted two rare kinds of dust in the dwarf galaxy Sextans A, one of the most chemically primitive galaxies near the Milky Way. The finding of metallic iron dust and silicon carbide (SiC) produced by aging stars, along with tiny clumps of carbon-based molecules, shows that even when the universe had only a fraction of today’s heavy elements, stars and the interstellar medium could still forge solid dust grains. …

https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/scientists-identify-astronomys-platypus-with-nasas-webb-telescope/ – Scientists Identify ‘Astronomy’s Platypus’ with NASA’s Webb Telescope

After combing through NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s archive of sweeping extragalactic cosmic fields, a small team of astronomers at the University of Missouri says they have identified a sample of galaxies that have a previously unseen combination of features. Principal investigator Haojing Yan compares the discovery to an infamous oddball in another branch of science: biology’s taxonomy-defying platypus. …

Regards

HELLFIRE

https://science.nasa.gov/asset/webb/circinus-galaxy-hubble-and-webb/ – Circinus Galaxy (Hubble and Webb)

This image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope shows a full view of the Circinus galaxy, a nearby spiral galaxy about 13 million light-years away. The inset highlights a Webb close-up of the galaxy’s core, where infrared observations pierce through dust to reveal hot material feeding its central supermassive black hole. …

https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasas-webb-delivers-unprecedented-look-into-heart-of-circinus-galaxy/ – NASA’s Webb Delivers Unprecedented Look Into Heart of Circinus Galaxy

The Circinus Galaxy, a galaxy about 13 million light-years away, contains an active supermassive black hole that continues to influence its evolution. The largest source of infrared light from the region closest to the black hole itself was thought to be outflows, or streams of superheated matter that fire outward. …

Regards

GeekGirl1

This just out: Webb reveals a planetary nebula with phenomenal clarity, and it is spectacular

This underscores the point that the Webb telescope represents a significant technology advancement over Hubble.

…now the James Webb Space Telescope has turned its sights on the Helix Nebula, and, oh my, does it have a story to tell. NASA released the new images of the nebula on Tuesday.

The new images: Intricacies of Helix Nebula Revealed With NASA’s Webb

Impressive.

HELLFIRE

…how much to get that made into a wallpaper wallpaper? TOTALLY asking for a friend… 😃 😃

Regards

HELLFIRE

https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasa-webb-finds-young-sun-like-star-forging-spewing-common-crystals/ – NASA Webb Finds Young Sun-Like Star Forging, Spewing Common Crystals

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s 2024 NIRCam image shows protostar EC 53 circled. Researchers using new data from Webb’s MIRI proved that crystalline silicates form in the hottest part of the disk of gas and dust surrounding the star — and may be shot to the system’s edges.

https://www.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasa-reveals-new-details-about-dark-matters-influence-on-universe/ – NASA Reveals New Details About Dark Matter’s Influence on Universe

Scientists using data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have made one of the most detailed, high-resolution maps of dark matter ever produced. … Published Monday, Jan. 26, in Nature Astronomy, the map builds on previous research to provide additional confirmation and new details about how dark matter has shaped the universe on the largest scales — galaxy clusters millions of light-years across — that ultimately give rise to galaxies, stars, and planets like Earth. …

https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasa-webb-pushes-boundaries-of-observable-universe-closer-to-big-bang/ – NASA Webb Pushes Boundaries of Observable Universe Closer to Big Bang

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope shows galaxy MoM-z14 as it appeared in the distant past, only 280 million years after the universe began in the big bang.

Regards

HELLFIRE

https://www.nasa.gov/missions/chandra/nasa-telescopes-spot-surprisingly-mature-cluster-in-early-universe/ – NASA Telescopes Spot Surprisingly Mature Cluster in Early Universe

A new discovery captures the cosmic moment when a galaxy cluster – among the largest structures in the universe – started to assemble only about a billion years after the big bang, one or two billion years earlier than previously thought. This result, made using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and James Webb Space Telescope, will lead astronomers to rethink when and how the largest structures in the universe formed. …

https://science.nasa.gov/asset/webb/webb-transforming-our-understanding-of-star-formation/ – Webb: Transforming Our Understanding of Star Formation

Regards

HELLFIRE

https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasas-webb-telescope-locates-former-star-that-exploded-as-supernova/ – NASA’s Webb Telescope Locates Former Star That Exploded as Supernova (Feb 23)

… Images of galaxy NGC 1637 taken by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope showed a single red supergiant star located exactly where the supernova now shines. This represents the first published detection of a supernova progenitor by Webb. …

https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/webb-maps-uranus-upper-atmosphere/ – Webb Maps Uranus’ Upper Atmosphere (Feb 24)

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope provided the first vertical view of Uranus’s ionosphere in this image released on Feb. 19, 2026, revealing auroras shaped by its tilted magnetic field. Getting a look at the structure of the region where the atmosphere interacts strongly with the planet’s magnetic field is giving us the most detailed portrait yet of where its auroras form, how the magnetic field influences them, and also data on how Uranus’s atmosphere has continued to cool since the 1990s. …

https://science.nasa.gov/asset/webb/observations-of-the-exposed-cranium-nebula/ – Observations of the Exposed Cranium Nebula (Feb 25)
https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasas-webb-examines-cranium-nebula/ – NASA’s Webb Examines Cranium Nebula (Feb 25)

… Nebula PMR 1 is a cloud of gas and dust that bears an uncanny resemblance to a brain in a transparent skull, inspiring its nickname, the “Exposed Cranium” nebula. Webb captured its unusual features in both near- and mid-infrared light. …

https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/artifacts-from-nasas-webb-parker-solar-probe-on-view-at-smithsonian/ – Artifacts From NASA’s Webb, Parker Solar Probe on View at Smithsonian (Mar 13)

A testing replica of the “backbone” of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and a full-scale model of the agency’s Parker Solar Probe are now on permanent display at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. …

Regards

GeekGirl1

HELLFIRE There’s an Exposed Cranium Nebula? That just hurts my head in so many ways. 😉

Sparkchaser

GeekGirl1 Exposed Cranium Nebula? That just hurts my head in so many ways.

🤣😂🤣

HELLFIRE

GeekGirl1 There’s an Exposed Cranium Nebula? That just hurts my head in so many ways. 😉

Used 100% of my brain on that joke… still don’t get it. Need to do a full brain reboot till something lights up.

Thinking some really deep thoughts across really deep time here.

Heard of having your brain in the (hydrogen) clouds, but THAT takes the cake!

SOMEthing coherent may form someday out of that nebula… I can’t imagine what.

I’ll quit while I’m ahead. XD XD

Regards

HELLFIRE

https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasas-webb-redefines-dividing-line-between-planets-stars/ – NASA’s Webb Redefines Dividing Line Between Planets, Stars (Apr 14, 2026)

… Astronomers used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to examine 29 Cygni b, an object about 15 times as massive as Jupiter orbiting a nearby star. … 29 Cygni b sits on the dividing line between what can be explained by these two different mechanisms. …

Regards

HELLFIRE

https://science.nasa.gov/asset/webb/little-red-dot-abell2744-qso1-sonification-of-gas-velocity-around-a-supermassive-black-hole-nircam-and-nirspec-ifu/ – Little Red Dot Abell2744-QSO1: Sonification of Gas Velocity Around a Supermassive Black Hole (NIRCam and NIRSpec IFU)

A sonification is a translation of data into sound. In this sonification, the velocity of hydrogen gas moving around a black hole in the center of a Little Red Dot known as Abell2744-QSO1 (QSO1) is translated into sounds of varying pitch (or frequency). …

https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasas-webb-reveals-black-hole-that-formed-before-its-galaxy/ – NASA’s Webb Reveals Black Hole That Formed Before Its Galaxy

Which comes first, the galaxy or the black hole? … Now, researchers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have detected clear evidence that some supermassive black holes were enormous from the beginning, forming without a stellar collapse phase, and without a significantly more massive host galaxy to feed them. …

https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/3iatlas/2026/06/01/nasas-webb-detects-methane-on-interstellar-comet-3i-atlas/ – NASA’s Webb Detects Methane on Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS

… For the first time on an interstellar visitor, Webb directly detected methane gas. … Its delayed appearance in comet 3I/ATLAS suggests it was buried below the comet’s top surface layer and protected from sublimation until heat from the comet’s close pass to the Sun reached deeper parts of the icy subsurface. …

Regards

HELLFIRE

https://science.nasa.gov/asset/webb/evidence-of-a-black-hole-star/ – Evidence of a ‘Black Hole Star’

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s spectroscopic data on little red dot GLIMPSE-17775 contains more than 40 spectral lines. The spectrum contains multiple independent indicators that support the theory this little red dot is a black hole star: a rapidly accreting, or growing, black hole enveloped in a hot, dense gas cocoon.

https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasa-webb-finds-strongest-evidence-yet-for-black-hole-stars/ – NASA Webb Finds Strongest Evidence Yet for ‘Black Hole Stars’

… By carefully analyzing the dot’s spectrum captured by Webb — the deepest spectrum to date of a little red dot — the research team has identified multiple lines of evidence, all of which support the interpretation that GLIMPSE-17775 is a supermassive black hole enveloped in a dense cocoon of partially ionized gas, a model referred to as the BH* (black hole star) scenario. A paper describing the results was published today in The Astrophysical Journal. …

https://science.nasa.gov/missions/chandra/nasas-chandra-discovers-possible-supernova-remnant-in-galactic-center/ – NASA’s Chandra Discovers Possible Supernova Remnant in Galactic Center

Using data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers may have found a supernova remnant in an intriguing neighborhood in the middle of our galaxy. … This new supernova remnant, if confirmed, would be one of the closest ever discovered to the supermassive black hole at the central region of the Milky Way galaxy, an exotic region crammed with massive stars, long threads of magnetic fields and dense clouds of gas orbiting rapidly around the Galactic Center. …

https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/black-eye-galaxy/ – Black Eye Galaxy

This March 20, 2026, image of Messier 64, or the Black Eye Galaxy, is a composite view from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and James Webb Space Telescope. It shows Messier 64 captured at near- and mid-infrared wavelengths by Webb, while Hubble’s image shows the galaxy in ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared light.

Regards

HELLFIRE

https://science.nasa.gov/asset/webb/bulge-fossil-fragment-terzan-5-webb-and-hubble-image/ – Bulge Fossil Fragment Terzan 5 (Webb and Hubble Image)

Terzan 5 is a stellar system orbiting within the Milky Way galaxy’s bulge, which is an incredibly bright, crowded central region of the galaxy. Not only are stars within the bulge tightly packed together — every bit of this region is laced with thick clouds of gas and dust. …

https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasa-webb-hubble-reveal-history-of-relic-of-milky-ways-formation/ – NASA Webb, Hubble Reveal History of Relic of Milky Way’s Formation

Researchers using two of humanity’s most powerful observatories — NASA’s James Webb and Hubble Space Telescopes — have definitively shown that Terzan 5 is not a globular star cluster as it was once classified, offering new insight into how galaxies like our own form and evolve over time. … New data not only confirms the existence of two distinct populations of stars in Terzan 5, but also provides evidence for two more recent rounds of star formation. …

https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasas-webb-catches-exoplanet-getting-roasted/ – NASA’s Webb Catches Exoplanet Getting Roasted

One well-done gas giant, coming right up! That’s the latest from researchers analyzing NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s observations of HD 80606 b, an exoplanet four times the mass of Jupiter with an extremely elliptical orbit that sweeps close by its Sun-like star. …

https://science.nasa.gov/asset/webb/3i-atlas-compared-to-solar-system-comets/ – 3I/ATLAS Compared to Solar System Comets

https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasas-webb-finds-clues-to-ancient-distant-origin-of-comet-3i-atlas/ – NASA’s Webb Finds Clues to Ancient, Distant Origin of Comet 3I/ATLAS

As interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS began moving away from the Sun in December 2025, astronomers took the opportunity to turn NASA’s powerful James Webb Space Telescope in its direction and capture detailed measurements of its chemical components. … Webb captured detailed data, including chemical ratios of carbon and deuterium, also known as heavy hydrogen, that are not found in solar system comets. …

https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/hubble-details-early-galaxy-transforming-neighborhood/ – Hubble Details Early Galaxy Transforming Neighborhood

Astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have found something they never expected — ultraviolet light from a galaxy that existed just 1.4 billion years after the big bang. That galaxy contains tightly clustered young stars that produce ionizing light capable of transforming the opaque, neutral gas within and immediately around the galaxy, clearing our view. …

Regards

HELLFIRE

https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/millions-of-stars-in-cigar-galaxy/ – Millions of Stars in Cigar Galaxy

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope recently observed edge-on starburst galaxy Messier 82 (M82), nicknamed the Cigar Galaxy. Webb’s new view of M82, added to archival data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, gives us a more complete picture of this starburst galaxy. …

https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasas-webb-studies-how-planet-survived-death-of-its-star/ – NASA’s Webb Studies How Planet Survived Death of its Star

Exoplanet WD 1856 b, shown in this artist’s concept, is a gas giant that orbits its star at a distance 50 times closer than Earth orbits the Sun. Observations by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope determined the planet’s temperature and detected molecules in its atmosphere.

https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasas-webb-reveals-stars-sparking-to-life-in-cosmic-celebration/ – NASA’s Webb Reveals Stars Sparking to Life in Cosmic Celebration

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured the infrared light of numerous features that previously were impossible to see beyond the thick dust of the FS Tau star system. …

https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/nasas-hubble-discovers-first-of-star-clusters-missing-black-holes/ – NASA’s Hubble Discovers First of Star Cluster’s Missing Black Holes

Regards

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