
Caption
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope observed the outskirts of our Milky Way galaxy. Known as the Extreme Outer Galaxy, this region is located more than 58,000 light-years from the Galactic Center.
To learn more about how a local environment affects the star formation process within it, a team of scientists directed the telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) and MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) toward a total of four star-forming areas within Digel Clouds 1 and 2: 1A, 1B, 2N, and 2S.
In the case of Cloud 2S, shown here, Webb revealed a luminous main cluster that contains newly formed stars. Several of these young stars are emitting extended jets of material from their poles. To the main cluster’s top right is a sub-cluster of stars, a feature that scientists previously suspected to exist but has now been confirmed with Webb. Additionally, the telescope revealed a deep sea of background galaxies and red nebulous structures that are being carved away by winds and radiation from nearby stars.
About The Object | |
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Object Name | Digel Cloud 2 |
Object Description | Star cluster on the outskirts of the Milky Way galaxy |
R.A. Position | 02:48:28.45 |
Dec. Position | +58:23:29.72 |
Constellation | Perseus |
Distance | About 40,000 light-years |
Dimensions | Image is 1.8 arcmin across (about 21 light-years) |
About The Data | |
Data Description | This image was created with Webb data from proposal: (M. Ressler); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI) |
Instrument | NIRCam, MIRI |
Exposure Dates | 17 Jan 2023 |
Filters | NIRCam: F115W, F150W, F200W, F356W, F444W MIRI: F770W, F1280W |
About The Image | |
Color Info | These images are a composite of separate exposures acquired by the James Webb Space Telescope using the NIRCam and MIRI instruments. Several filters were used to sample wide 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: Purple: F115W, Blue: F150W, Green: F200W, Yellow: F356W, Orange: F444W, Red: F770W, Red: F1280W |
Compass and Scale Image | ![]() |
About The Object | |
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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 |
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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 | |
Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
Compass and Scale Image | An astronomical image with a scale that shows how large an object is on the sky, a compass that shows how the object is oriented on the sky, and the filters with which the image was made. |