Stars

The Pillars of Creation as seen by the James Webb Space Telescope's MIRI instrument (Image NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, J. DePasquale (STScI), A. Pagan (STScI))

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A new image of the so-called Pillars of Creation was released, once again captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. It follows an image published a few days ago yet they show a landscape that looks very different with regards to the background of the structures that gave this star-forming area its nickname. This is due to the fact that this image was captured using the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), which sees in the mid-infrared, while the previous one was captured using the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), which sees in the near-infrared. The different views offer a combination of information that is very useful in studying the gas and dust clouds in which there are young stars and others in the process of forming.

Artist's concept of a rocky planet's atmosphere being stripped by a red dwarf's flares

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An article published in “The Astrophysical Journal Letters” reports a study on the exoplanet GJ 1252b which concludes that it has no atmosphere. In particular, a team of researchers used data collected by the Spitzer Space Telescope to examine this rocky planet which is about 20% larger than the Earth with a mass that is about 32% larger than the Earth’s. GJ 1252b orbits a red dwarf and according to the researchers, this star stripped this super-Earth’s atmosphere. This is due to the fact that red dwarfs are small but very active stars and confirms that it may be difficult to find a habitable planet around this type of star.

The Pillars of Creation seen by James Webb Space Telescope (Image NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; J. DePasquale, A. Koekemoer, A. Pagan (STScI))

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The so-called Pillars of Creation have been portrayed in some of the iconic images captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. Now the James Webb Space Telescope obtained even more detailed views of that star-forming area that is part of the Eagle Nebula. Webb’s infrared sensitivity can see even inside dust clouds where there are newborn stars and areas where stars are forming. That hasn’t only made it possible to obtain even more spectacular photos but also to provide a lot of new information useful to improve the models concerning star formation.

The GRB221009A gamma-ray burst observed by Swift (Image NASA/Swift/A. Beardmore (University of Leicester)

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A record-breaking gamma-ray burst was observed thanks to a series of space and ground-based telescopes on October 9, 2022. The fast global alert system existing among astronomical organizations made it possible to use several instruments to detect the event and its consequences over the next few days. Cataloged as GRB221009A, it’s already been called the gamma-ray burst of the century because it was very powerful even by the standards of these extremely energetic events. It may have been caused by a supernova that gave birth to a black hole but studies of the information collected have just begun.

WR 140, its companion, and the rings around them (Image NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, JPL-Caltech)

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An article published in the journal “Nature Astronomy” reports the observation of 17 dust rings around WR 140, a so-called Wolf-Rayet star that has a very young and massive companion. A team of researchers used the James Webb Space Telescope’s MIRI instrument to study the area around this pair of stars, obtaining results far superior to those of other instruments, which had only identified two rings. According to the researchers, the rings are generated when the two stars get closer and their stellar winds interact violently causing the gas to compress, as it also contains elements heavier than hydrogen and allows it to form dust.