Astronomers have released brand new images of a star-forming region near the supermassive black hole at the centre of our Galaxy.
The images were produced by the James Webb Space Telescope's MIRI and NIRCam instruments, which observe the Universe in infrared.
More amazing Webb science
Infrared enables astronomers to see regions of space that are invisible to the human eye.
Yet within this particular region, there are sections that are closed off even to Webb's incredible vision.
Chaotic star formation at the centre of the Milky Way
The Webb images show the star-studded Sagittarius B2 molecular cloud, the most massive and most active star-forming region in our Galaxy.
Webb has seen an array of massive, multi-coloured stars and thick cosmic dust, revealing detail never seen before, according to Adam Ginsburg of the University of Florida, principal investigator of the program.
"Webb’s powerful infrared instruments...will help us to understand some of the still-elusive mysteries of massive star formation and why Sagittarius B2 is so much more active than the rest of the galactic center," he says.
Sagittarius B2 is just a few hundred lightyears from the supermassive black hole at the heart of our galaxy, known as Sagittarius A*.
A few hundred lightyears may seem like a lot. After all, it means it would take light a few hundred years to get from our Galaxy's supermassive black hole to Sagittarius B2.
But that's a stone's throw in cosmic terms.
Webb's infrared vision is key to learning more about this region, which is densely packed with stars, star-forming clouds and magnetic fields.
The thick clouds out of which stars are born cannot be penetrated by the human eye, but Webb can see through them, its infrared vision revealing newborn stars and warm dust surrounding them.
But note the regions in the Webb images of Sagittarius B2 that remain dark.
These may look like empty regions of space, devoid of stars, but they're actually so dense, not even Webb can see through them.
Thick cosmic clouds of gas and dust like these contain the raw materials out of which future stars may be born.
There are likely newborns stars already hidden within these pockets, still too young to glow bright enough to be seen by Webb.
Yet Webb is able to see the vast majority of the region, including glowing cosmic dust heated by very young massive stars.
Webb’s MIRI instrument reveals Sagittarius B2 in mid-infrared light, warm dust glowing brightly.
Only the brightest stars emit strongly enough to appear through the dense clouds as blue pinpoints.
An image of the same region captured with Webb's NIRCam image shows much more of the.
We can see many more colourful stars, amongst bright clouds of gas and dust.
Astronomers can study regions like this to learn more about the stars, their masses and their ages.
In turn, they can build a bigger picture as to the history and future of star formation in the region.
That includes the mystery of why star formation at the centre of our Galaxy is so low, compared to the Sagittarius B2 region.
While Sagittarius B2 has only 10% of the galactic centre’s gas, it produces 50% of its stars.
"Humans have been studying the stars for thousands of years, and there is still a lot to understand," says Nazar Budaiev, a graduate student at the University of Florida and co-principal investigator of the study.
"For everything new Webb is showing us, there are also new mysteries to explore, and it’s exciting to be a part of that ongoing discovery."
