James Webb Space Telescope Feed Post

Peering Into the Tendrils of NGC 604 with NASA's Webb

Roll out the red carpet! The stars are here. Star-forming region NGC 604 contains more than 200 of the hottest, most massive kinds of stars (B-type and O-type stars), all in the early stages of their lives. There is no region quite like this within our own Milky Way, making NGC 604 a perfect window for astronomers to study young, massive stars. As seen in mid-infrared light, large clouds of cooler dust and gas glow brightly. Fewer stars are visible because hot stars are fainter at these wavelengths, but some stars that can still be seen include red supergiants: cool, large stars that are hundreds of times the diameter of our Sun. How stars are born and how they interact with their environments are two big questions in astronomy today. Webb’s ultra-sensitive infrared eye is revealing more intricacies of these processes than ever before. Learn more: go.nasa.gov/49HLx3B Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI [Image Description: At the center of the image is a nebula on the black background of space. The nebula is comprised of wispy filaments of light blue clouds. At the center-right of the blue clouds is a large cavernous bubble. The bottom left edge of this cavernous bubble is filled with hues of pink and white gas. There are hundreds of dim stars that fill the surrounding area of the nebula.] Image & Description by NASA