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bloodyraven1001

3 months ago

At the center is a thin vertical cloud known as Lynds 483 that is shaped like an hourglass with two lobes and irregular edges. At lower center, in the middle of the hourglass, are two discrete bright white, tiny blobs of light that have raced away from the hidden central stars. The top lobe shows a more prominent orange U-shape. Orange bleeds into light purple, and brighter pink at its edges. Some background stars are visible through sections of this lobe. Higher up, there is an orange arc. Some brighter pink material extends to the top edges near the center. In the lower lobe, less orange is visible. More opaque light purple is in its top third, rippling out into semi-transparent blues and pinks. The lower lobe has more texture. V-shaped areas to the left and right of the lobes are darkest, and the background stars in these areas appear orange. Elsewhere, the black background of space is clearer, speckled with tiny white stars and faint orange galaxies.

This scene, known as Lynds 483, will continue to change over millions of years. Today, we have the clearest view of it yet, thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope.

Two forming stars that fit into one pixel, hidden in a tiny, opaque disk of dust at the center, are responsible for sending out the jets and outflows that are represented in vibrant pink, purple, and blue hues.

Webb also shows us dust in unexpected places. Look along the edges of the semi-transparent cones. Distant stars look orange here, not white. This is because there’s additional dust around Lynds 483. Where the view is free of obscuring dust, stars shine brightly in white and blue.

Millions of years from now, when the stars are finished forming, they may each be about the mass of our sun. Their outflows will have cleared the area—sweeping away these semi-transparent ejections. All that may remain is a tiny disk of gas and dust where planets may eventually form.

Explore all the details of this Webb image: https://webbtelescope.pub/4h538oK