Overview

• Webb’s NIRCam instrument delivered new infrared views of the Cat’s Paw Nebula that reveal young massive stars carving away gas and dust, bright blue glows and fiery red clumps marking active star formation.
• The observations build on earlier Hubble and Spitzer studies by exposing never-before-seen structural details in the 4,000-light-year-distant star-forming region.
• Astronomers say that as these massive stars disrupt their environment, local star formation in the nebula will eventually cease.
• Over its third year, Webb also detected unexpected hydrogen emission in galaxy GZ-z13-1, captured direct coronagraphic images of exoplanets in the HR 8799 system and spotted a candidate planet around TWA 7.
• Operating in partnership between NASA, ESA and the Canadian Space Agency at the Earth-Sun L2 point, Webb continues to expand its legacy with instruments like NIRSpec and MIRI probing early galaxies and Jupiter’s aurorae.