It is a divine vision that the James Webb Space Telescope has given Earth scientists in a new, detailed near-infrared image of Cassiopeia A (Cas A), a stellar remnant, a cloud of gas, dust, and other material left behind after a star dies. . Danny Milisavljevic, an associate professor of physics and astronomy in Purdue University’s College of Science, has been studying supernova remnants and has spent a year working with Cas A.

“I spent 17 years studying stars and their massive explosions. “I’ve used dozens of telescopes, both ground-based and space-based, covering the electromagnetic spectrum from gamma rays to radio waves,” said Milisavljevic. “Still, I wasn’t ready for the data Webb provided. I was amazed by their quality and beauty.”

Cassiopeia A is the youngest known remnant of a massive star that exploded in our galaxy, providing a unique opportunity to learn more about how such supernovae form. Light from its explosion first reached Earth 340 years ago.

“Cas A is our best opportunity to look at the debris field of an exploded star and do some kind of stellar autopsy to understand what kind of star was there before and how that star exploded,” Milisavlovic said. said.

Supernovas like those that formed Cas A are crucial to life. Stars create various elements, and subsequent supernovae create additional elements, from calcium in our bones to iron in our blood, and radiate them into interstellar space, creating a new generation of stars and planets.

“By understanding the starburst process, we read our own origin story,” Milisavljevic said. said.

Located about 11,000 light-years away, the remnant is located in the part of the sky known as the Cassiopeia constellation. Cas A, an arrangement of five bright W stars, is invisible to the human eye from Earth, but occupies an area that appears to be to the right of the W’s last line.

Scientists have studied Cas A for decades, just as infrared cameras give people different information than cameras that only see in the visible light spectrum, studying the structure at different wavelengths gives astronomers new insights into the anatomy of stars.

The new image, collected by JWST’s 18 mirrored gold honeycombs, shows incredible detail. In it, mid-infrared light was converted into visible light, allowing scientists to analyze details and structures. Large curtains of material shaded in red and orange represent where the star’s material turns into extrastellar gas and dust. Between these pink streaks are rosy glows from which elements that make up the star, such as oxygen, argon, and neon, shine.

One of the most surprising elements of the image for researchers is the large green ring on the right side of the image.

“We nicknamed him the ‘Green Monster’ after Fenway Park in Boston,” Milisavlevic said. “If you look closely, you’ll notice that there are speckles on it that look like little bubbles. The form and complexity are unexpected and elusive.”

Higher resolution images at longer wavelengths, particularly infrared, allow astronomers to see the intricacies of structure more clearly. Like binoculars that help distinguish colors and patterns on a bird’s wings, the more detail scientists have, the more information they can gather and analyze.

“Compared to previous infrared images, we’re seeing incredible detail that we weren’t able to access before,” said Thea Temim, a researcher on the program at Princeton University.