Utilizing the Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) aboard the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have obtained fresh images of the Red Spider Nebula, a prominent planetary nebula located in the constellation Sagittarius.
This web image showcases the Red Spider Nebula. Image credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/Webb/JH Kastner, Rochester Institute of Technology.
The Red Spider Nebula was identified by American astronomer and physicist Edward Charles Pickering on July 15, 1882.
This astronomical object is located roughly 12,420 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Sagittarius.
Commonly referred to as NGC 6537, ESO 590-1, and IRAS 18021-1950, it has an approximate radius of 3.6 light-years.
“Planetary nebulae, like the Red Spider Nebula, form when average stars, such as our Sun, reach the conclusion of their life cycles,” Webb astronomers noted in a statement.
“As these stars expand into cool red giants, they shed their outer layers, propelling them into space and revealing their hot white cores.”
“Ultraviolet radiation from the central star ionizes the ejected material, causing it to emit light.”
“The planetary nebula stage of a star’s lifecycle is both spectacular and brief, lasting only tens of thousands of years.”
“This Webb image displays the central star of the Red Spider Nebula, which shines slightly brighter than the dusty gas web surrounding it.”
In optical images from telescopes such as Hubble, the stars appear faintly blue.
However, in the NIRCam image, it appears red. Webb’s sensitive near-infrared capabilities have unveiled the hot dust enveloping the central star.
“This hot dust likely orbits the central star in a disk-like formation,” the astronomers explained.
“Even though only one star is visible at the nebula’s center, a concealed companion star may exist there.”
“Such a stellar companion could account for the nebula’s shape, including its distinctive narrow waist and broad jets.”
“This hourglass configuration is also observed in other planetary nebulae, like the Butterfly Nebula, which Webb has also recently studied.”
“Webb’s fresh perspective on the Red Spider Nebula reveals, for the first time, the complete extent of the nebula’s extended lobes that resemble the spider’s ‘legs,'” researchers stated.
“These lobes, depicted in blue, are traced by light emitted from H.2, a molecule consisting of two hydrogen atoms bonded together.”
“These lobes, which are visible across NIRCam’s field of view, are shown to be closed, bubble-like structures, each stretching about three light-years.”
“Gas streaming from the core of the nebula has inflated these massive bubbles over countless years.”
“New observations from Webb indicate that gas is also actively being ejected from the nebula’s center.”
“A protracted purple ‘S’ shape at the nebula’s center follows light from ionized iron atoms.”
“This feature illustrates where a fast-moving jet has emerged near the nebula’s central star, colliding with previously ejected material and shaping the nebula’s undulating structure that we observe today.”
Source: www.sci.news
