{"id":3768,"date":"2023-04-07T15:29:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-07T15:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/?p=3768"},"modified":"2025-07-30T13:45:04","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T17:45:04","slug":"new-webb-telescope-image-reveals-wonders-beauty-secrets-of-star-structure-and-building-blocks-of-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/2023\/Q2\/new-webb-telescope-image-reveals-wonders-beauty-secrets-of-star-structure-and-building-blocks-of-life","title":{"rendered":"New Webb telescope image reveals wonders, beauty, secrets of star structure and building blocks of life"},"content":{"rendered":"

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. —<\/p> \n

To gaze at the stars is human. To be able to see them in three-dimensional detail is very nearly divine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Divine vision is what the James Webb Space Telescope has granted earthbound scientists in a new near-infrared, detailed image of Cassiopeia A (Cas A), a stellar remnant \u2013 the clouds of gas, dust and other material left behind when a star dies. Danny Milisavljevic<\/a>, assistant professor of physics and astronomy in Purdue University\u2019s College of Science<\/a>, studies supernova remnants and leads a year one research team<\/a> on the JWST examining Cas A.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have spent 17 years studying stars and their titanic explosions. I\u2019ve used dozens of telescopes \u2013 both ground- and space-based \u2013 covering the electromagnetic spectrum from gamma rays to radio wavelengths,\u201d Milisavljevic said. \u201cAnd yet, I was still unprepared for the data that Webb has provided. I am awestruck by their quality and beauty.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cassiopeia A is the youngest known remnant from an exploding, massive star in our galaxy, which makes it a unique opportunity to learn more about how such supernovae occur. The light from its explosion first arrived at Earth 340 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCas A represents our best opportunity to look at the debris field of an exploded star and run a kind of stellar autopsy to understand what type of star was there beforehand and how that star exploded,\u201d Milisavljevic said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supernovae like the one that formed Cas A are crucial for life. Stars create a variety of elements, and subsequent supernovae create additional elements \u2013 everything from the calcium in our bones to the iron in our blood \u2013 and spread them across interstellar space, seeding new generations of stars and planets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy understanding the process of exploding stars, we are reading our own origin story,\u201d Milisavljevic said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking with new eyes<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Located about 11,000 light-years away, the remnant is in the section of the sky considered to be of the constellation Cassiopeia. An arrangement of five bright stars in a \u201cW,\u201d Cas A is invisible to human eyes from Earth but occupies the space that appears to be off to the right of the last stroke of the W.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For decades, scientists have studied Cas A. Examining the structure using different wavelengths gives astronomers new insights into star anatomy, the same way infrared cameras give humans different information than cameras that see only in the visible light spectrum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new image collected by JWST\u2019s golden honeycomb of 18 mirrors shows incredible detail. In it, mid-infrared light has been translated into visible light, allowing scientists to analyze details and structures. Great curtains of material, shaded red and orange, represent where the star\u2019s material is crashing into circumstellar gas and dust. Among those rosy swaths, bursts of pink show where the star\u2019s composite elements, including oxygen, argon and neon, are shining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the researchers, one of the most puzzling elements of the image is the large green loop on the image\u2019s right side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve nicknamed it the Green Monster, in honor of Fenway Park in Boston,\u201d Milisavljevic said. \u201cIf you look closely, you\u2019ll notice that it\u2019s pockmarked with what look like little bubbles. The shape and complexity are unexpected and challenging to understand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Higher resolution images, in more wavelengths especially the infrared, give astronomers a clearer look at the intricacies of the structure. Like picking up binoculars to help resolve the colors and patterns on a bird\u2019s wing, the more detail scientists have, the more information they can infer and analyze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCompared to previous infrared images, we see incredible detail that we haven’t been able to access before,\u201d said Tea Temim, a program co-investigator from Princeton University. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dust to dust<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Counterintuitively, some of the most exciting matter in the picture may seem the most prosaic: dust. While the substance is irritating to housekeepers, it is intriguing to astronomers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Massive quantities of dust suffuse even very young galaxies in the early universe. It\u2019s difficult to explain the origins of this dust without crediting supernovae, which spew large quantities of heavy elements \u2013 the building blocks of dust \u2013 across space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But supernovae can also destroy dust, and it\u2019s unclear how much survives the trip to interstellar space. By studying Cas A with JWST, astronomers hope to gain a better understanding of its dust content, which can help inform our understanding of where the building blocks of planets \u2013 and ourselves \u2013 are created.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn Cas A, we can spatially resolve regions that have different gas compositions and look at what types of dust were formed in those regions,\u201d Temim said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carl Sagan famously assured humanity that we are made of \u201cstar stuff.\u201d Milisavljevic\u2019s team and JWST\u2019s observations are helping scientist understand that process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWebb is an incredible achievement,\u201d Milisavljevic said. \u201cI feel fortunate to be among the first scientists to test its unrivaled power to explore the universe. I am going to spend the rest of my career trying to understand what\u2019s in this data set.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This research was funded in part by the National Science Foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About Purdue University<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Purdue University is a top public research institution developing practical solutions to today\u2019s toughest challenges. Ranked in each of the last five years as one of the 10 Most Innovative universities in the United States by U.S. News & World Report, Purdue delivers world-changing research and out-of-this-world discovery. Committed to hands-on and online, real-world learning, Purdue offers a transformative education to all. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue has frozen tuition and most fees at 2012-13 levels, enabling more students than ever to graduate debt-free. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap at https:\/\/stories.purdue.edu<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\n Writer\/Media contact:<\/strong>\u00a0Brittany Steff,\u00a0bsteff@purdue.edu<\/a>
Source:<\/strong>\u00a0Danny Milisavljevic <\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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