The James Webb Space Telescope captured this stunning image of the gas and dust around a newborn star in the constellation Taurus. And by newborn, we mean just half a billion years old.
"While the young star itself is obscured by the dense dust disk that embeds it, the intense winds and fast-moving jets it blasts into space collide with the sparser gas and dust above and below the disk, creating shockwaves that heat the material, causing it to glow," explains Space.com.
For astronomers, the glowing dust can reveal how stars interact with their surroundings giving insight into how planets are born.
"These grains [of dust] are only one millionth of a meter across — about the size of a single bacterium," states the the European Space Agency.
"These observations show that large dust grains must migrate within the disc and settle in a thin layer. The creation of a narrow, dense layer of dust is an important stage in the process of planet formation — in this dense region, dust grains clump together to form pebbles and eventually planets themselves."
Previously:
• Saturn's moon Titan imaged by the James Webb Space Telescope
• Webb space telescope confirms Hubble's view of universe's rate of expansion
• Webb telescope spots baby Jupiters in distant nebula
• See the Webb telescope's glorious image of Jupiter and its auroras
• Astonishing Phantom Galaxy image produced by citizen scientist from Webb Telescope data
