The JWST focused on two separate stardust clouds for its first nebula science discoveries: the Carina Nebula, which is approximately 8,500 light-years from Earth, and the Eight Burst Nebula, which is approximately 2,000 light-years away.
Begin with a bang with the Eight Burst Nebula. The Southern Ring Nebula is another name for it.
"This is a planetary nebula," explained NASA astronomer Karl Gordon. "It's the result of a dying star spilling a large fraction of its mass over in successive waves." These shockwaves are visible in the image as pond-like ripples floating around the center, which resembles a biological cell.
You can see them a little better on the left. This is due to the fact that this side is a version of the nebular image captured by the JWST's Near-Infrared Camera, or Nircam. It is frequently referred to as the telescope's "holy grail imager" because it leads the charge in discovering pieces of the invisible universe. In this case, Nircam aids in illustrating the various layers of light that connect to form this complex system. It has a lot of texture, like a mixed-media painting, and it shows off different aspects of the Southern Ring, including those shockwaves.
On the right is an image created by the JWST's Mid-Infrared Instrument, or MIRI. MIRI's specialty, as its name suggests, is capturing light from the mid-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. We also get an exciting Easter egg in this photo thanks to MIRI.
Two stars are clearly visible in the center of the cosmic eye. The dying one that caused the nebula can be seen next to the brighter one — the redder dot on the left. This star couple was thought to have existed in the past, dancing around each other in an intergalactic waltz. But we'd never seen them together before. It's the first time.
According to NASA, the brighter star will most likely eject its own planetary nebula in the future, but will continue to influence the nebula's appearance until then, providing us with the vibrant spectacle we see today. According to NASA, "as the pair continues to orbit one another, they'stir the pot' of gas and dust, causing asymmetrical patterns."
Also, if you look toward the top left of that right-hand image, you'll notice a mysterious blueish line that appears to have been flung out from the nebula. This small line tells its own grand story.
"I made a bet that it's part of the nebula," Gordon explained. "I lost the bet because we looked at both Nircam and MIRI images more closely and it's very clearly an edge-on galaxy." Yes, this image contains an entire faraway galaxy. The JWST is not without its tricks.
EDIT: I have decided not to post part 3. I will veer off to other blog posts. Sorry.