Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

CTOnews.com, Oct. 12 (Xinhua)-- NASA recently released a blog post sharing the NGC 346 new infrared images taken by the James Webb Space Telescope's Infrared Instruments (MIRI).

In this picture, blue represents silicates and soot-like chemical molecules called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The brightest and most massive star in the center of the region heats up warm dust and emits more diffuse red light.

Bright patches and filaments mark regions with a large number of protostars. The image includes 7.7 micron blue light, 10 micron cyan light, 11.3 micron green light, 15 micron yellow light and 21 micron red light (770W, 1000W, 1130W, 1500W and 2100W filters, respectively).

CTOnews.com Note: NGC 346 is a star-forming region located in the small Magellanic Cloud, 210,000 light-years from Earth.

The small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is a satellite galaxy of the Milky way, located south of the constellation Giant Beak and visible to the naked eye. This small companion galaxy is more primitive than the Milky way because it has fewer heavy elements than ours, which are formed in stars through nuclear fusion and supernova explosions.

Astronomers have identified more than a thousand light spots in the image, many of which are young stars wrapped in dust.

Located in Tucana, the southern constellation, NGC 346 is much younger than our Milky way and contains fewer heavy elements.

This combination provides us with valuable insights into an era known as the cosmic noon, where star formation peaked billions of years ago and there are fewer heavy elements than they are today.

Download address of original image: https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/images/2023/145/01HBVF32473WERVA8Y2XVE6446

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