(NASA, ESA, CSA, M. McCaughrean, Pearson / @markmccaughrean https://bit.ly/3N2M7Ox)
The team in charge of the James Webb Space Telescope have taken an image of the isolated protoplanetary disk Orion 294-606 in the Orion Nebula.
The disk is 5 times wider than the orbit of Neptune, and a planetary system can form from its material.
The Great Nebula of Orion is a unique object because it helps us to study the physical processes associated with the formation of stars and planets.
It is the closest star-forming region to Earth that can be seen with the naked eye.
Besides, it contains one of the youngest star clusters, which is rich in objects of various masses: from stars to substellar objects.
In addition, many young stellar objects and stars surrounded by disks of gas and dust are observed in the nebula.
The Hubble Space Telescope played a large role in the study of the nebula.
The mythic Hubble also discovered a number of silhouette circumstellar disks, noticeable due to their absorption of radiation from background bright regions of ionized gas.
One of the isolated silhouette disks, designated Orion 294-606, became an observation target for the James Webb.
It was discovered in 2000 by the Hubble and is located at a distance of 1400 light years from the Sun.
It was observed using a NIRCam near-infrared camera and a narrow-band hydrogen filter.
The system is edge-on and contains a young star, about 1 million years old, surrounded by a dense disk of gas and dust from which planets can form.
The disk is estimated to be 300 astronomical units in diameter, five times wider than Neptune's orbit, and absorbs most of the star's radiation.
However, the Webb saw dust-scattered radiation from the polar regions of the star, forming two small reflection nebulae.
Sources:
- Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2022/10/solar-system-picture-webb-space-telescope-orion-nebula/671715/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/markmccaughrean/status/1578415313330343937
- Big Think: https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/jwst-cosmic-isolation/
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