The space telescope James Webb of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) reported that it managed to capture new images that fully detail one of the most majestic nebulae: ‘Horse’s head’.
According to what was explained by NASA, this ‘Horsehead’ nebula, also known as ‘Barnard 33‘, is a cold gas cloud located about 1,300 light years away from planet Earth in the constellation of Orion.
This nebula arises from the collapse of a “interstellar cloud of material and glows because it is illuminated by a nearby hot star.”
Hence “The gas clouds surrounding Cabeza de Caballo have already dissipated, but the protruding pillar is made of thick clumps of material and is therefore more difficult to erode.”
Scientists point out that ‘Horse’s head’ It has a lifespan of at least five million years before it completely disintegrates.
New images taken by James Webb are centered on the edge “illuminated from the top of the nebula’s distinctive structure of dust and gas.”
This is because according to what was explained with the space agency: “The Horsehead Nebula is a known photodissociation region or PDR”so in this region “UV light from young, massive stars creates a warm, mostly neutral area of gas and dust between the fully ionized gas that surrounds massive stars and the clouds in which they are born.”
This ultraviolet radiation strongly influences the chemistry of these regions, which is why it acts as an extremely important source of heat within the nebula.
Regions occur where interstellar gas is dense enough to remain “mostly neutral”however, is usually not dense enough to prevent “the penetration of ultraviolet light from massive stars.”
The curious thing about this nebula is that thanks to its proximity and the geometry it has, astronomers can study “the physical structures of PDRs and the molecular evolution of gas and dust within their respective environments, and the transition regions between them.”
The impressive images were achieved with the help of instruments MIRI and NirCam of the NASA’s James Webb Telescopeas well as the help of an international team of astronomers.
These photographs show the small-scale structures of the illuminated edge of the ‘Horse’s head’ and as the ultraviolet light evaporates the dust cloud, the dust particles are dragged out of the cloud.
When this happens they are transported along with the heated gas, the great thing about it is that Webb was able to detect a network of “fine features” that help track this movement.
“The observations have also allowed astronomers to investigate how the dust blocks and emits light, and to better understand the multidimensional shape of the nebula.”pointed out the space agency.
