FS Tau (Webb Image)

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope captures the infrared light from bright protostars in young star system FS Tau. FS Tau A, a pair of protostars that creates the largest diffraction pattern slightly to the left of center, is about half the mass of our Sun. FS Tau B, the orange protostar slightly right of center, is thought to be responsible for the red (molecular hydrogen) and orange (soot-like molecules known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) outflows that we see amid the dusty region. The blue ridges are areas where light has been scattered by dust.

The different colors of the background galaxies indicate how much dust is in front of them, as dust both absorbs and scatters light. Redder galaxies lie behind larger amounts of dust, yellower galaxies lie behind thinner layers of dust, and whiter galaxies are mostly unobstructed.