Overview

• Webb’s NIRCam instrument captured unprecedented structural details of the Opera House region within NGC 6334, highlighting how young stars carve away gas and dust
• The Cat’s Paw Nebula lies about 4,000 light-years away in Scorpius and its active stellar nurseries foreshadow the eventual quenching of local star formation
• Image release marks the James Webb Space Telescope’s third anniversary since its July 2022 launch
• Year-three highlights include unexpected bright hydrogen emission in galaxy GZ-z13-1 and direct exoplanet imaging in the HR 8799 system
• As a NASA-ESA-CSA partnership, Webb continues to expand on Hubble and Spitzer insights into star formation, galaxy evolution and exoplanet atmospheres