{"id":132011,"date":"2024-12-01T05:08:27","date_gmt":"2024-11-30T22:08:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=132011"},"modified":"2024-12-01T05:08:27","modified_gmt":"2024-11-30T22:08:27","slug":"james-webb-space-telescope-explores-monster-star-supercluster-westerlund-1-image","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=132011","title":{"rendered":"James Webb Space Telescope explores monster star supercluster Westerlund 1 (image)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<p>Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have taken a deep drive into a highly intriguing and massive young stellar cluster in the Milky Way. It&#8217;s called Westerlund 1. Located around 12,000 light years from Earth, Westerlund 1 is also the closest supermassive star cluster to us.<\/p>\n<p><a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/supermassive-stars-globular-clusters-james-webb-space-telescope\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/supermassive-stars-globular-clusters-james-webb-space-telescope\">Supermassive star clusters<\/a> like <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/the-universe\/nasas-chandra-x-ray-telescope-captures-closest-super-star-cluster-to-earth-image\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/the-universe\/nasas-chandra-x-ray-telescope-captures-closest-super-star-cluster-to-earth-image\">Westerlund 1 <\/a>are groupings of stars that contain masses equivalent to tens of thousands of suns. In these superclusters, the processes that favor <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/39935-stellar-nursery-unites-star-formation-theories.html\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/39935-stellar-nursery-unites-star-formation-theories.html\">star-forming environments<\/a> and boost the births of stars and planets are extremely efficient.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"hawk-nest\" data-block-type=\"embed\" data-render-type=\"fte\" data-skip=\"dealsy\" data-widget-type=\"seasonal\"\/>\n<p>At over 6.6 light-years wide, Westerlund 1 has a mass the same as around 63,000 suns. Hosting the largest and most compact population of monster stars in the Milky Way, with hundreds of very massive stars packed in a relatively small region, Westerlund 1 is a tantalizing target for astronomers aiming to better understand a range of stellar phenomena and the evolution of planetary systems.<\/p>\n<p>The new image and associated findings regarding Westerlund 1 were delivered by the Extended Westerlund 1 and 2 Open Clusters Survey (<a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/the-universe\/nasas-chandra-x-ray-telescope-captures-closest-super-star-cluster-to-earth-image\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/the-universe\/nasas-chandra-x-ray-telescope-captures-closest-super-star-cluster-to-earth-image\">EWOCS<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We pushed our detection limit down to the<a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/23798-brown-dwarfs.html\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/23798-brown-dwarfs.html\"> brown dwarfs<\/a> of the cluster, which are the smallest stars that can form!&#8221; EWOCS team leader Mario Giuseppe Guarcello of the Palermo Astronomical Observatory in Italy told Space.com. &#8220;Thus, we will be able to determine the true content of the cluster and to measure properties such as the mass distribution of its stars.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/21925-james-webb-space-telescope-jwst.html\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/21925-james-webb-space-telescope-jwst.html\">James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)<\/a> also offers detailed and deep observations taken in infrared wavelengths of light that can be used to highlight young stars still surrounded by planet-birthing <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/8605-solar-system-baby-photos-reveal-planets-form.html\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/8605-solar-system-baby-photos-reveal-planets-form.html\">protoplanetary disks.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;These may be forming planets right now,&#8221; Guarcello continued. &#8220;All this will allow us, for the first time, to determine the impact of the starburst environment on the products of star formation and the process of planet formation.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div id=\"slice-container-newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-SG53Gf9WsQCpcWCNDwAeCV\" class=\"slice-container newsletter-inbodyContent-slice newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-SG53Gf9WsQCpcWCNDwAeCV slice-container-newsletterForm\">\n<div data-hydrate=\"true\" class=\"newsletter-form__wrapper newsletter-form__wrapper--inbodyContent\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-form__container\">\n<section class=\"newsletter-form__top-bar\"\/>\n<section class=\"newsletter-form__main-section\">\n<p class=\"newsletter-form__strapline\">Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2 id=\"westerlund-1-is-one-wonderland-for-astronomers-3\">Westerlund 1 is one wonderland for astronomers<\/h2>\n<p>EWOCS not only works with observations from the JWST, but also with data from the <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/15892-hubble-space-telescope.html\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/15892-hubble-space-telescope.html\">Hubble Space Telescope<\/a>, the Atacama Large Millimeter\/submillimeter Array (<a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/25534-alma.html\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/25534-alma.html\">ALMA<\/a>), NASA&#8217;s <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/18669-chandra-x-ray-observatory.html\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/18669-chandra-x-ray-observatory.html\">Chandra X-ray Space Telescope<\/a>, and more, to study Westerlund 1 as well as the slightly more diminutive supercluster Westerlund 2.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Westerlund 1 hosts the largest and most compact population of massive stars we know in the galaxy, with hundreds of very massive stars packed in a very small region, almost all of them being in close binary systems,&#8221; Guarcello said. &#8220;In such cases, the star-forming environment is dominated by energetic radiation [UV and X-rays] and high-speed, high-energy particles, which regulate star and planet formation.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>A range of different conditions in galaxies can determine the rate at which stars form. As an example, epochs of intense star birth, known as &#8220;starburst periods,&#8221; can be triggered when galaxies collide to cause an influx of gas and dust, which are the building blocks of new stars.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In these cases, the typical star-forming environment takes the form of very massive and supermassive star-forming regions,&#8221; Guarcello said.<\/p>\n<p>Such instances were more common in the<a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/39449-youngest-galaxies-spin-like-mature-milky-way.html\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/39449-youngest-galaxies-spin-like-mature-milky-way.html\"> early and turbulent universe<\/a> when <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/15680-galaxies.html\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/15680-galaxies.html\">galactic collisions<\/a> were more likely to occur. Formation rates have been quenched in the Milky Way because it&#8217;s a &#8220;modern&#8221; galaxy, meaning starburst regions are few and far between.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The Milky Way today hosts only a few supermassive clusters, with less than ten known,&#8221; Guarcello continued. &#8220;These few regions are crucially important because they allow us to study star- and planet-forming conditions which are typical of starburst galaxies in the early universe and to extend our knowledge of star and planet formation to the most extreme and energetic star-forming environments we know of.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>That is what makes the study of Westerlund 1, one such region, so important.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure inline-layout\" data-bordeaux-image-check=\"\">\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\" style=\"max-width:1041px;\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:95.20%;\"><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/4DXxBzuantB5GdtS4rnGvZ-320-80.jpg.webp 320w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/4DXxBzuantB5GdtS4rnGvZ-480-80.jpg.webp 480w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/4DXxBzuantB5GdtS4rnGvZ-650-80.jpg.webp 650w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/4DXxBzuantB5GdtS4rnGvZ-970-80.jpg.webp 970w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/4DXxBzuantB5GdtS4rnGvZ-1024-80.jpg.webp 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/4DXxBzuantB5GdtS4rnGvZ-1200-80.jpg.webp 1200w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 970px, calc(100vw - 40px)\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Hubble stuns once again with an image of a super star cluster called Westerlund 1. A massive star resides here, dwarfing Earth's sun handily.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/4DXxBzuantB5GdtS4rnGvZ-320-80.jpg 320w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/4DXxBzuantB5GdtS4rnGvZ-480-80.jpg 480w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/4DXxBzuantB5GdtS4rnGvZ-650-80.jpg 650w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/4DXxBzuantB5GdtS4rnGvZ-970-80.jpg 970w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/4DXxBzuantB5GdtS4rnGvZ-1024-80.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/4DXxBzuantB5GdtS4rnGvZ-1200-80.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 970px, calc(100vw - 40px)\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/4DXxBzuantB5GdtS4rnGvZ.jpg\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/4DXxBzuantB5GdtS4rnGvZ.jpg\"\/><\/picture><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption itemprop=\"caption description\" class=\" inline-layout\"><span class=\"caption-text\">Westerlund 1 as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope <\/span><span class=\"credit\" itemprop=\"copyrightHolder\">(Image credit: ESA\/Hubble &amp; NASA)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Superclusters are often obscured by clouds of gas and dust between stars in the Milky Way and are usually buried in dense star fields. That means studying these sites of intense star formation, especially when investigating lower-mass stars in the region, requires a powerful telescope with a large light-gathering area that can capture <em>infrared light<\/em>, which, as briefly touched on, is capable of slipping through dense clouds of interstellar matter. Visible light cannot do that.<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s why the EWOCS team turned to the JWST and its main tools, the <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/james-webb-telescope-miri-instrument-returns-science-mode\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/james-webb-telescope-miri-instrument-returns-science-mode\">Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI)<\/a> and the <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/webb-telescope-space-selfie-nircam\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/webb-telescope-space-selfie-nircam\">Near-Infrared Camera<\/a> (NIRCam). Though Westerlund 1 has been studied by many other telescopes, including Hubble, the JWST still provided Guarcello and colleagues with some unexpected results.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The main surprises arrived from the MIRI images, that unveiled a dense and structured nebulosity [gas and dust] all around and within the cluster,&#8221; the researcher said. &#8220;Such nebulosity can hardly be a remnant of the parental cloud from which the cluster formed about 5 million years ago.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure inline-layout\" data-bordeaux-image-check=\"\">\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\" style=\"max-width:1600px;\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:56.25%;\"><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/7fJa2go322cxRdJjWVbXPD-320-80.png.webp 320w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/7fJa2go322cxRdJjWVbXPD-480-80.png.webp 480w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/7fJa2go322cxRdJjWVbXPD-650-80.png.webp 650w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/7fJa2go322cxRdJjWVbXPD-970-80.png.webp 970w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/7fJa2go322cxRdJjWVbXPD-1024-80.png.webp 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/7fJa2go322cxRdJjWVbXPD-1200-80.png.webp 1200w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 970px, calc(100vw - 40px)\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The protoplanetary disk around the infant star PDS 70 which may contain a third planet\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/7fJa2go322cxRdJjWVbXPD-320-80.png 320w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/7fJa2go322cxRdJjWVbXPD-480-80.png 480w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/7fJa2go322cxRdJjWVbXPD-650-80.png 650w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/7fJa2go322cxRdJjWVbXPD-970-80.png 970w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/7fJa2go322cxRdJjWVbXPD-1024-80.png 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/7fJa2go322cxRdJjWVbXPD-1200-80.png 1200w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 970px, calc(100vw - 40px)\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/7fJa2go322cxRdJjWVbXPD.png\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/7fJa2go322cxRdJjWVbXPD.png\"\/><\/picture><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption itemprop=\"caption description\" class=\" inline-layout\"><span class=\"caption-text\">A protoplanetary disk around the infant star PDS 70 imaged by ALMA <\/span><span class=\"credit\" itemprop=\"copyrightHolder\">(Image credit: ALMA (ESO\/NAOJ\/NRAO)\/Benisty et al.)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>This is because young clusters with a moderate population of massive stars create large cavities in their clouds over the course of less than one million years.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Westerlund 1 hosts the most massive star population known in a galactic cluster, and it is at least 5 million years old, so it should have cleaned up all its clouds,&#8221; Guarcello said. &#8220;In the MIRI images, we think we are witnessing the accumulation of intracluster material from the gas and dust ejected by the most massive stars of the clusters during their final stages of evolution, and the interaction between the winds produced by different types of massive stars.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Guarcello added that the MIRI images also revealed peculiar outflows and shells around the most evolved massive stars in Westerlund 1.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In the next two to three years, we will publish most of the EWOCS science,&#8221; Guarcello said. The researcher explained that<strong> <\/strong>the next release will be a study of the <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/x-ray-galaxy-cluster-gas-structure\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/x-ray-galaxy-cluster-gas-structure\">hot intracluster gas <\/a>in the cluster, studied by means of the diffuse emission in X-rays.<\/p>\n<p>The EWOCS team will then release an analysis of high-energy phenomena happening in some of the compact objects in Westerlund 1 as well as calculate the mass distribution of low-mass stars in the cluster. The researchers also intend to analyze the disk-bearing population of the cluster, and conduct a study of outflows around the most evolved stars in the region, namely <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/22471-red-giant-stars.html\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/22471-red-giant-stars.html\">red supergiants<\/a> and <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/25026-largest-yellow-star-photos-video.html\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/25026-largest-yellow-star-photos-video.html\">yellow hypergiants<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;That is just to mention a few. All these studies will be possible not only thanks to JWST but also other great observatories such as Chandra in X-rays, ALMA and Hubble,&#8221; Guarcello concluded. &#8220;Besides these, the analysis of the observations of Westerlund 2, a slightly less massive but younger cluster than Westerlund 1, is at a good stage, and we will start publishing those results soon.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The team&#8217;s research has been accepted for publication in the journal Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics and is available as a preprint on the repository site <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/2411.13051\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/2411.13051\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" rel=\"noopener\">arXiv.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/james-webb-space-telescope-westerlund1\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have taken a deep drive into a highly intriguing and massive young stellar cluster in the Milky Way. It&#8217;s called Westerlund 1. Located &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=132011\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8628],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-132011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-science","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=132011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132011\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=132011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=132011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=132011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}