This image shows the center of the Serpens Nebula as seen by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam).
The Serpens Nebula, located 1,300 light-years from Earth, is home to a particularly dense cluster of newly forming stars (~100,000 years old), some of which will eventually grow to the mass of our Sun. Webb’s image of this nebula revealed a grouping of aligned protostellar outflows (seen in the top left). These jets are signified by bright clumpy streaks that appear red, which are shock waves from the jet hitting surrounding gas and dust.
In this image, throughout the region, filaments and wisps of different hues represent reflected starlight from still-forming protostars within the cloud. In some areas, there is dust in front of that reflection, which appears here with an orange, diffuse shade.
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | Serpens Nebula, HBC 672, [EC 92] 82 |
| Object Description | Reflection nebula and star forming region |
| R.A. Position | 18:29:56.91 |
| Dec. Position | +1:14:45.77 |
| Constellation | Serpens |
| Distance | 1,300 light-years |
| Dimensions | Image is about 4.8 arcminutes across (1.4 light-years) |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | The Webb observations include those from program (K. Pontoppidan). Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI) |
| Instrument | NIRCam |
| Exposure Dates | 26 April 2023, 12 May 2023 |
| Filters | F140M, F210M, F360M, F480M |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | This image is a composite of separate exposures acquired by the James Webb Space Telescope using the NIRCam instrument. Several filters were used to sample medium wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: Blue: F140M, Cyan: F210M, Orange: F360M, Red: 480M |
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
|
| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
