The American space agency NASA has released another beautiful image of the universe made by the James Webb Space Telescope. The image shows a kind of hourglass of orange and blue substances being released by a newly formed star, which is located in the center.
The colored clouds are only visible in infrared light and have never been seen before. The James Webb Telescope has now made it possible with its infrared camera, NASA and the European space agency ESA reported Wednesday.
The young star L1527 itself is depicted in darkness behind a rotating disk of gas at the neck of the hourglass. Above and below, the light from the star projects outward, illuminating the hourglass-shaped clouds.
The star is only 100,000 years old, according to NASA. By cosmic standards, the star is just a child in terms of age. The newborn star is not yet able to generate its own energy.
According to NASA, the image of the star offers a glimpse into what our sun and solar system looked like when they were in their infancy. The star is about 430 light-years from Earth and is in a nursery of hundreds of other newly formed stars.
The James Webb Telescope is the most powerful space telescope ever and has been observing the universe since July. In recent months, this has already resulted in numerous unique images from space.
