In the vast expanse of the cosmos, countless elements and compounds converge in cosmic clouds, offering the basic building blocks needed for the formation of planets. Now, astronomers have stumbled upon what they assert is the biggest known reservoir of <keyword id="21666978" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="planet-forming-ingredients" source="keywords">planet-forming ingredients</keyword> identified to date, swirling around a young star.<br /><br />The gargantuan disk, located about 1000 light-years from Earth, boasts a diameter approximately 3,300 times greater than the distance between Earth and the sun! Given its size, it is believed to house an ample supply of gas and dust capable of birthing super-sized planets in far-flung orbits.<br /><br />Dubbed <keyword id="21666980" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="IRAS-23077" source="keywords">IRAS 23077</keyword>, this planet-forming disk — referred to as a <keyword id="21666979" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="protoplanetary-disk" source="keywords">protoplanetary disk</keyword> by astronomers — presents a striking resemblance to a butterfly in the images captured. The dark, dusty strip at the centre mirrors the elongated body of a butterfly, while the blue and white lobes evoke its wings, with two narrow filaments resembling antennae.<br /><br />Encircling a star situated 1,000 light-years away, this disk was initially detected in 2016. However, it was only recently confirmed as a prolific <keyword id="21666981" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="nursery-for-nascent-planets" source="keywords">nursery for nascent planets</keyword> through observations conducted by telescopes in Hawaii. <br /><br />Lead author <keyword id="21666983" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="kristina-monsch" source="keywords">Kristina Monsch</keyword> of the <keyword id="21666982" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Harvard-Smithsonian-Center-for-Astrophysics" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics">Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics</keyword> has expressed excitement over the potential insights this colossal and gas-rich disk could offer regarding “the birth and evolution of worlds beyond our own”.<br /><br />Monsch adds that this disk, double the size of the previous record-holder, holds promise for NASA's Hubble and Webb space telescopes. These instruments may be able to discern the ongoing formation of planets akin to Jupiter or larger within the disk's confines. <br /><br />The quest to uncover such celestial bodies will continue in full force. According to Monsch, some worlds are probably already out there, and “we just have to look for them”.<br /><br />These findings were detailed in Monday's edition of <em>Astrophysical Journal Letters</em> and can be accessed <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad3bb0">here</a>.

Butterfly basin: Astronomers find the biggest known reservoir of planet-forming ingredients around a young star!

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Researchers found seven stars in our galaxy that might host alien megastructures called <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/alien-megastructure-circling-giant-star-isnt-a-dyson-sphere-but-a-swarm-2016-9">Dyson spheres</a>.</li><li>But these stars' strange behavior could also be explained by other phenomena, like clouds of dust.</li></ul><p>In the search for <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/aliens-on-nearby-stars-planets-could-see-earth-life-2020-10">intelligent alien life</a>, finding a Dyson sphere would be like hitting the jackpot. </p><p>Theoretically, super-advanced alien societies could build these giant, ultra-high-tech megastructures around their host stars to harness solar energy.</p><p>Scientists have yet to find proof that Dyson spheres exist. But if they are real, we should be able to spot them, and researchers have been hunting for decades ever since <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/legendary-physicist-freeman-dyson-death-age-2020-2">physicist Freeman Dyson</a> first theorized the idea in 1960.</p><p>Now, research published in the peer-reviewed journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society has identified seven <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/astronomers-discover-fastest-runaway-stars-in-milky-way-galaxy-2023-6">stars in our galaxy</a> that exhibit some unusual behavior, which the team can't easily explain with natural phenomenon.</p><h2 id="0b3793df-2f40-4597-9e8c-2c4e99e9f214">What exactly is a Dyson sphere?</h2><div type="image" title="A star surrounded by a Dyson sphere floats between a ringed planet in the background and a blue planet in the foreground" height="1800" width="2400" msid="111323502" hostid="261" sizebytes="156896"></div><p>Despite what the name suggests, a Dyson sphere isn't necessarily one solid sphere that encases a star, although the most advanced ones could be.</p><p>Most likely, "these are <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-starlink-satellites-could-help-deplete-ozone-layer-study-2024-6">satellites</a> with very broad surfaces floating around the star," Suman Majumdar, study co-author and associate professor of astronomy, astrophysics, and space engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, told Business Insider.</p><p>This design would grant an intelligent society access to an <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/space-based-solar-panels-could-power-earth-2014-7">unlimited energy source</a>, allowing their population and industry to grow exponentially, according to Dyson's original theory.</p><div type="image" title="An artistic illustration of a Dyson sphere" height="2000" width="2400" msid="111323495" hostid="261" sizebytes="270090"></div><p>The design also means there would be gaps between the satellites where some of the star's radiation could sneak through. And the rest of the light, the satellites would absorb and re-radiate back into space as pulses of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasas-spitzer-space-telescope-is-retiring-after-16-years-2020-1">infrared radiation</a> known as infrared excess emissions, or IEEs, which could be a way of detecting a distant Dyson sphere from Earth.</p><p>For their study, Majumdar and colleagues analyzed more than 5 million stars throughout <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/we-live-inside-cosmic-void-breaks-cosmology-laws-2024-5">the Milky Way</a> that exhibit IEEs. But Dyson spheres aren't the only possible explanation.</p><div type="image" title="A young star surrounded by a protoplanetary disk" height="1322" width="2266" msid="111323504" hostid="261" sizebytes="271628"></div><p>"There's a lot of reasons that stars might have extra infrared emission. Typically, it's because they're extremely young, and they have a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/scientists-captured-rare-photo-of-baby-planets-growing-around-star-2019-7">protoplanetary disk</a>," which is a disk of rotating gas and dust around a new star that radiates infrared light, Jason Wright, study co-author and professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Penn State University, told BI.</p><p>There are other natural explanations for IEEs, too. That's why the research team had to rule out so many stars from their original list of 5 million Dyson sphere candidates, eventually leaving them with seven that exhibit IEEs they can't easily explain and that could, potentially, host these <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-solution-alien-megastructure-tabbys-star-2019-9">alien megastructures</a>. </p><p>However, future research will need to rule out all other possible explanations first.</p><h2 id="8f78a78b-b8da-4723-8369-29131e1bd730">Hunting for Dyson spheres</h2><div type="image" title="Gaia satellite against a black background" height="2480" width="3508" msid="111323499" hostid="261" sizebytes="292454"></div><p>To identify these seven strong Dyson sphere candidates, the researchers used a computer system to sift through a mountain of data collected by <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/a-dark-matter-hurricane-blasting-past-earth-2018-11">Gaia</a>. This European Space Agency satellite is creating a three-dimensional map of more than a billion stars in our galaxy and beyond.</p><p>Data from this highly comprehensive survey allowed the research team to select <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/map-of-milky-way-galaxy-by-gaia-spacecraft-2018-4">a pool of millions of stars</a> that exhibit IEEs and gradually weed out all the ones that could be explained by natural phenomena.</p><p>"It took more than a year to go through this," Majumdar said.</p><p>Without Gaia and the massive amount of data it collects, this study wouldn't have been possible.</p><div type="image" title="Gaia image of the entire sky" height="313" width="625" msid="111323493" hostid="261" sizebytes="5596"></div><p>"I'm really excited for this big data era, like all the big surveys that are coming out — all the things we can learn from this data by looking at it in different ways," Tabetha Boyajian, an associate professor of astrophysics at Louisiana State University who did not work on this study, told BI.</p><p>Next, the researchers will look closer at these seven strong Dyson sphere candidates using <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rare-diamond-contains-a-mineral-never-seen-in-nature-2018-3">spectroscopic analysis</a>, Majumdar said. This technique can reveal new information about the radiation these stars emit, and help the researchers rule out other possible explanations for their IEEs.</p><p>"It would take a lot of rigor to be able to say confidently that this is not something that nature is doing, it's something that an advanced civilization is doing," Boyajian said.</p><p>In the meantime, Gaia continues its survey, populating the database with even more stars for <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/astronome-alien-megastructure-dont-rule-out-aliens-2016-2">Dyson sphere hunters</a> like Majumdar and Wright, so their search is far from over. In fact, it might just be getting started.</p><p>"The same analysis can be actually done on the newer candidates that are populating the catalog," Majumdar said.</p>

At least 7 stars in our galaxy have the potential to harbor advanced alien technology, researchers find

If a film chronicling <keyword id="6359982" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="earth" source="Orion">Earth</keyword>'s history were in the making, asteroids would likely play the role of villains, renowned for eliminating dinosaurs and various less celebrated species. Despite currently evoking trepidation as they daringly pass close to our <keyword id="46100" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="planet" source="Orion">planet</keyword>, these celestial bodies might actually be the unsung heroes responsible for the existence of <keyword id="6360041" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="life" source="Orion">life</keyword> on Earth.<br /><br />Scientists, exploring the origins of water on Earth and other exoplanets, may have uncovered a promising hypothesis with the assistance of the <keyword id="1102401" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="james-webb" source="Orion">James Webb</keyword> telescope. This esteemed telescope has revealed a complex cosmic supply chain involving ice-covered pebbles migrating from the outer Solar System to deliver water to developing planets nearer to their stars.<br /><br />The groundbreaking revelation stems from observations of four young stars surrounded by protoplanetary disks — dense gas discs encircling newly formed stars. The <keyword id="369294" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="jwst" source="Orion">JWST</keyword>, penetrating through the obscuring dust and gas, examined the material composition within these disks. Two of the disks exhibited an excess of water vapour in their inner regions, aligning with the theory that icy pebbles are transporting water to the evolving planets. The absence of water vapour excess in the other two disks suggests the hydrodynamical forces are stronger, trapping the icy pebbles in their outer rings.<br /><br />This finding challenges the notion that the inner and outer regions of a solar system are isolated, supporting the ice-covered pebble theory as a more plausible explanation for Earth's water origin.<br /><br />Contrary to the long-standing belief that Earth's water arrived from icy comets and asteroids after its formation, this new hypothesis posits that water originated from ice-covered pebbles drifting inward from the outer Solar System. The James Webb telescope's recent breakthrough is anticipated to conclusively elucidate the source of Earth's water.<br /><br />Additionally, this discovery holds significance for the quest for extraterrestrial life, suggesting that the delivery of water to planets is more common than previously believed, thereby increasing the likelihood of finding life on other planets.<br />

Icy pebbles may be carrying water to developing planets across the cosmos!

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/times-nasa-webb-space-telescope-spotted-something-hubble-missed">James Webb Space Telescope</a> detected a key carbon molecule <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/space-photos-black-holes-planets-stars-galaxies-discoveries-2022-11">in space</a> for the first time ever.</li><li>The methyl cation, or CH3<sup>+</sup>, molecule was found in a young star system in the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/webb-photos-orion-nebula-show-features-hidden-to-hubble-2022-9">Orion Nebula</a>.</li></ul><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/images-show-james-webb-space-telescope-stronger-sharper-than-hubble-2022-7">NASA's James Webb Space Telescope</a> has detected a key carbon molecule in space for the first time: methyl cation (pronounced cat-eye-on). </p><p>The methyl cation, or CH3<sup>+</sup>, molecule can promote chemical reactions that form more complex carbon molecules — crucial <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ocean-saturn-moon-enceladus-building-blocks-life-amino-acids-2019-10">building blocks for life</a>.</p><p>Scientists have theorized that methyl cation could lay the foundations for organic chemistry, and possibly <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/webb-telescope-captures-enceladus-water-plume-thousands-miles-long-2023-5">life</a>, across the universe.</p><p>But nobody had detected the molecule beyond our solar system until scientists <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-james-webb-space-telescope-best-images-from-first-year-2022-12">pointed the Webb telescope</a> at a young star system in the Orion Nebula, a giant star-forming region located 1,350 light-years from Earth.</p><div type="image" title="nebula eric teske" height="803" width="1071" msid="101320242" hostid="261" sizebytes="41432"></div><p>There, in a ring of gas, dust, and rock orbiting a star — material that may someday coalesce into a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/astronomers-spot-star-swallowing-planet-sneak-peek-earth-death-2023-5">planet</a> — Webb spotted the first alien methyl cation known to science.</p><p>"While we have hypothesized for some time methyl cation existed in the universe, it was purely theoretical until now," Els Peeters, an astrophysicist at Western University, an expert in interstellar molecules and star formation, and a member of the team that made this discovery, said in a <a href="https://news.westernu.ca/2023/06/methyl-cation/">press release</a>.</p><p>"We can only now prove its existence thanks to the awesome <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/james-webb-hunt-for-distant-worlds-some-may-harbor-life-2022-7">capabilities of the James Webb telescope</a>. This is a remarkable discovery," she added.</p><h2>Webb's sensitivity to light helps it detect new molecules</h2><div type="image" title="James Webb Space Telescope" height="1536" width="2048" msid="101320243" hostid="261" sizebytes="291802"></div><p>The Orion Nebula is visible to the unaided eye under <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-night-looks-like-aoraki-mackenzie-international-dark-sky-reserve-2023-5">very dark skies</a>, but it takes a powerful telescope to identify the molecules that make it.</p><p>While scientists have used other telescopes, including Hubble, to study the Orion Nebula, only Webb has the power to detect methyl cation. That's because Webb analyzes wavelengths of a type of electromagnetic radiation called infrared light coming from distant objects in space.</p><p>That's a treasure trove of information for astronomers, because each chemical element emits and absorbs light at specific wavelengths. By picking apart the infrared light shining from a star or nebula, Webb can tell scientists exactly what chemicals are present there. That's how it can detect <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-james-webb-space-telescope-detects-water-on-distant-planet-2022-7">water vapor</a>, for example, or <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-james-webb-space-telescope-detects-sand-storms-distant-planet-2023-3">sand-like particles</a> in a distant planet's atmosphere.</p><p>An international team of scientists spotted the signature of methyl cation in the wavelengths Webb captured from this distant star in the Orion Nebula. They <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=7ff9710fe48d2313f9dc71d9274a57316789d2a0315cfe8c5241415457e7717c&amp;postID=649b24ba01cdf6682a73a916&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fs41586-023-06307-x" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published</a> their findings in the journal Nature on Monday.</p><p>"This detection not only validates the incredible sensitivity of Webb but also confirms the postulated central importance of CH3+ in interstellar chemistry," Marie-Aline Martin-Drumel, a researcher at the University of Paris-Saclay and another co-author on the paper, said in a <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2023/webb-makes-first-detection-of-crucial-carbon-molecule" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NASA press release</a>.</p><h2>Destructive UV radiation may actually help the early chemistry of life</h2><div type="image" title="Gaseous strands of pink, blue, orange, and red of a small section inside the Orion Nebula." height="554" width="985" msid="101320245" hostid="261" sizebytes="18862"></div><p>Some scientists wouldn't have expected to find methyl cation in the ring of material, or "protoplanetary disk," where Webb spotted the critical carbon molecule.</p><p>That's because, according to NASA, the region is being constantly bombarded with powerful UV radiation, which is known to destroy complex organic molecules.</p><p>The discovery of methyl cation there suggests that UV radiation may actually be the source of energy needed to form this particular molecule in the first place. Then, eons later, the methyl cation could help form the more UV-sensitive complex carbon molecules needed for life.</p><p>That could explain how the building blocks of life appeared on our planet. Long ago, when Earth was just a protoplanetary disk, it too was bombarded with heavy UV radiation.</p><p>"This clearly shows that ultraviolet radiation can completely change the chemistry of a protoplanetary disk. It might actually play a critical role in the early chemical stages of the origins of life," said lead author of the study, Olivier Berné of the French National Centre for Scientific Research in Toulouse.</p>

The James Webb Space Telescope found a molecular building block of life hiding in the Orion Nebula

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The James Webb Space Telescope can capture a more complete view of galaxies, stars, and planets.</li><li>The powerful telescope is 100 times stronger than its predecessor, Hubble, and uses infrared light.</li></ul><p>NASA's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-james-webb-space-telescope-first-year-in-space-2021-12">James Webb Space Telescope</a> has been delivering mind-blowing views of the cosmos since it began science operations in the summer of 2022.</p><p>Before Webb, astronomers had another workhorse cosmic observatory: the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/webb-infared-early-universe-hubble-ultraviolet-insights-breathtaking-images-2022-8">Hubble Space Telescope</a>. Both are space-based telescopes, but they differ in many ways. Hubble sees ultraviolet light, visible light, and a small slice of infrared, while Webb looks at the universe across the infrared spectrum.</p><p>Webb is 100 times stronger than Hubble, which allows astronomers to peer even further into space. As its first year of observations has proved, Webb is capable of taking the most striking shots yet of the universe.</p><h2>JWST showed some rings of Uranus that Hubble just can't grasp</h2><div type="image" title="A side by side comparison of recent pictures of Uranus shows the rings much brighter when taken with JWST than Hubble.  The pictures are annotated and read &quot;Hubble&quot; and &quot;JWST&quot;" height="999" width="1999" msid="100684343" hostid="261"></div><p>NASA published this <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uranus-images-shows-nasa-jwst-james-webb-outclasses-hubble-rings-2023-s?r=US&amp;IR=T">new picture</a> of Uranus — our neighborhood icy giant — taken by Webb in April 2023.</p><p>The new shot shows 11 of the planet's 13 rings clearly, including two rings that had only before been spotted by NASA's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-voyager-pictures-45-year-journey-neptune-uranus-saturn-earth-2022-6?r=US&amp;IR=T">Voyager 2</a> probe while it flew by the planet in 1986, and by a superpowered Earth-based observatory called the Keck.</p><p>By comparison, even the outer rings of Uranus appear faint on a picture taken by Hubble in 2022.</p><p>That being said, Webb still has some competition. Hubble previously spotted the two outer rings that are missing from Webb's latest photo of Uranus. </p><p>The Webb picture above, however, was snapped very quickly — in about 12 minutes. Scientists hope if they can spend more of the behemoth's time on Uranus, they could learn a lot about its rings and its mysterious atmosphere, NASA <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2023/nasa-s-webb-scores-another-ringed-world-with-new-image-of-uranus" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a press release on April 6.</p><h2>Webb provided sharp views of Jupiter's auroras and storms that Hubble can't see</h2><div type="image" title="Hubble image of Jupiter (left) JWST image of Jupiter (right)" height="1000" width="2000" msid="95984249" hostid="261"></div><p>In August 2022, Webb <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jupiter-images-webb-sees-rings-moons-hubble-cant-2022-8">snapped images of Jupiter</a> — the largest planet in our solar system. When compared to Hubble's images of the gas giant, above on the left, Webb offers a sharper and crisper image and showcases new details of Jupiter's auroras and storm systems.</p><p>In Webb's image of Jupiter, above on the right, the planet's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jupiter-great-red-spot-depth-nasa-juno-2021-10">Great Red Spot</a> — an enormous storm that has been swirling for centuries — is so bright with reflected sunlight that it appears white.</p><p>Webb's infrared image also shows Jupiter's auroras lighting up both the planet's poles. Auroras are colorful displays of light that are not unique to Earth. Jupiter has the most powerful auroras in the solar system, according to <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/jupiter-s-aurora-presents-a-powerful-mystery/" rel="">NASA</a>.</p><p>On both Earth and Jupiter, auroras occur when charged particles from the sun interact with the magnetic field — known as the magnetosphere — that surrounds a planet. Jupiter's magnetic field is about <a href="https://lasp.colorado.edu/outerplanets/giantplanets_magnetospheres.php#jupiter" rel="">20,000 times stronger</a> than Earth's.</p><h2>Webb revealed thread-like filaments in the Orion Nebula hidden to Hubble</h2><div type="image" title="Hubble image of the Orion Nebula, left. JWST image of the Orion Nebula, right." height="1440" width="2565" msid="95984251" hostid="261"></div><p>NASA released images of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/webb-photos-orion-nebula-show-features-hidden-to-hubble-2022-9">the Orion Nebula</a> — a massive star-forming region 1,350 light-years from Earth — that Webb took in September 2022. The nebula is the nearest stellar nursery to us.</p><p>Dense clouds of cosmic dust in the nebula obscure star-forming structures from instruments that rely on visible light, like in Hubble's image of the nebula, above to the left. By <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/james-webb-team-unveils-nasa-space-telescope-first-images-2022-7" rel="">gathering infrared light</a>, Webb is able to peer through those layers of dust, giving astronomers unprecedented views of the nebula's various components.</p><p>Astronomers believe nebulae are clouds dominated by vast, tangled, thread-like structures, called filaments, which feed material like gas to form and fuel stars. Webb's images reveal these gaseous threads in great detail.</p><h2><strong>Webb's infrared technology allows it to detect elements like methyl cation that Hubble cannot</strong></h2><div type="image" title="A side-by-side image of the Orion Nebula from the Hubble Telescope and James Webb Space Telescope," height="900" width="1200" msid="101677170" hostid="261" sizebytes="15296"></div><p>Webb's images of the Orion Nebula had more information to reveal. In June 2023, researchers reported that the powerful space telescope had detected one of the key building blocks for life, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/webb-space-telescope-found-molecular-building-block-life-orion-nebula-2023-6">methyl cation (CH3<sup>+</sup>), for the first time in space</a>.</p><p>Methyl cation can induce chemical reactions to form more-complex carbon molecules and are fundamental for organic chemistry and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/webb-telescope-captures-enceladus-water-plume-thousands-miles-long-2023-5">potential life</a>. Its existence in the universe was theoretical until Webb found it. The researchers speculate that UV radiation provided the energy source necessary for its formation. </p><p>"This clearly shows that ultraviolet radiation can completely change the chemistry of a protoplanetary disk," Olivier Berné of the French National Centre for Scientific Research in Toulouse, lead author of the study, <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2023/webb-makes-first-detection-of-crucial-carbon-molecule" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said in a statement</a>. "It might actually play a critical role in the early chemical stages of the origins of life." </p><p>Though Hubble <a href="https://esahubble.org/images/heic0917aw/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">previously studied</a> the Orion Nebula, it doesn't have the same light sensitivity as Webb. Chemical elements in stars and nebulae emit and absorb light at different wavelengths. The newer telescope analyzes infrared light from these objects to identify the elements. The capability has also helped Webb detect <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-james-webb-space-telescope-detects-water-on-distant-planet-2022-7">water vapor</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-james-webb-space-telescope-detects-sand-storms-distant-planet-2023-3">sand-like particles</a> in the atmosphere of far-away planets.</p><h2>Webb revealed hundreds of stars Hubble couldn't see in the epic Pillars of Creation</h2><div type="image" title="NASA's Hubble Space Telescope made the Pillars of Creation famous with its first image in 1995, but revisited the scene in 2014 to reveal a sharper, wider view in visible light, shown above at left. A new, near-infrared-light view from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, at right, helps us peer through more of the dust in this star-forming region. The thick, dusty brown pillars are no longer as opaque and many more red stars that are still forming come into view." height="966" width="2000" msid="95984253" hostid="261"></div><p>In October 2022, NASA released a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/webbs-pillars-creation-snap-shows-glittering-view-hubble-cant-see-2022-10">snapshot Webb took of the Pillars of Creation</a> — towering columns of gas and dust where stars are born. The epic stellar nursery is within the vast Eagle Nebula, a cloud of dust and gas 6,500 light-years away.</p><p>Hubble also imaged the famous nursery in 1995, above to the left. When comparing the two images next to one another, Webb's camera pierces through solid columns of cosmic dust, revealing hundreds of stars that Hubble couldn't see.</p><h2>Webb spied countless galaxies that Hubble missed</h2><div type="image" title="A side by side collage of the same area taken by the Hubble and the James Webb space telescopes." height="1500" width="2000" msid="95984255" hostid="261"></div><p>One of the first images that NASA shared from Webb was a "deep field" image — a long-exposure observation of a region of the sky, which allows the telescope to capture the light of extremely faint, distant objects. The image took less than a day to capture, according to <a href="https://twitter.com/NASAWebb/status/1546621080298835970" rel=" nofollow">NASA</a>.</p><p>When unveiling the image in July 2022, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasas-webb-telescope-snaps-first-full-color-image-2022-7">NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said</a> that if you held a grain of sand at arm's length, that would represent the speck of universe you see in this image.</p><p>"The deep field image fills me with wonder and hope," Lisa Kaltenegger, professor of astronomy at Cornell University and director of the Carl Sagan Institute, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/james-webb-hunt-for-distant-worlds-some-may-harbor-life-2022-7">previously told Insider</a>.</p><p>A side-by-side of Hubble's deep field next to Webb's reveals just how much sharper and stronger the new space observatory is.</p><h2>Webb revealed 2 stars inside this nebula whereas Hubble only saw one</h2><div type="image" title="side-by-side images of a bubbly nebula with arrows pointing to the stars at the center" height="1000" width="2000" msid="95984258" hostid="261"></div><p>This is the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2022/nasa-s-webb-captures-dying-star-s-final-performance-in-fine-detail">Southern Ring Nebula</a>, where a dying star is slowly expelling the layers of its atmosphere in successive waves, creating ever-expanding bubbles of colorful gas. Scientists knew there were two stars at the nebula's center, but couldn't see them in Hubble's images.</p><p>The new Webb picture reveals the dying star, which glows red because it's surrounded by dust, right next to its white companion star.</p><h2>An iconic cluster of 5 galaxies is much brighter and clearer in Webb's eye</h2><div type="image" title="cluster of five galaxes stephans quintet imaged by hubble on the left and jwst on the right" height="1000" width="2000" msid="95984260" hostid="261"></div><p>Four of the galaxies in this image of <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2022/nasa-s-webb-sheds-light-on-galaxy-evolution-black-holes">Stephan's Quintet</a> are about 300,000 light-years away, locked in a cosmic dance as each galaxy's gravity influences the others.</p><p>The Webb image also reveals new galaxies far in the background, which weren't visible to Hubble.</p><h2>Where Hubble saw a faint dot, Webb resolved 2 distinct mystery objects</h2><div type="image" title="two faint dots one yellow one orange in space" height="362" width="482" msid="95984262" hostid="261"></div><p>Dan Coe, a researcher with the Space Telescope Science Institute, first discovered this object in deep space about 10 years ago, using Hubble.</p><p>"With Hubble, it was just this pale, red dot. We could tell it was really small, just a tiny galaxy in the first 400 million years of the universe. Now we look with Webb, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hubble-vs-webb-new-nasa-telescope-reveals-details-early-universe-2022-11">we're able to resolve TWO objects</a>," Coe said in a <a href="https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/10/26/webb-offers-never-before-seen-details-of-early-universe/" rel="">NASA release</a> in October 2022.</p><div type="image" title="gif compares hubble and jwst images of the same galaxy cluster highlighting new galaxies behind it" height="338" width="600" msid="95984263" hostid="261"></div><p>Both Hubble and Webb study the early universe through <a href="https://esahubble.org/wordbank/gravitational-lensing/#:~:text=Gravitational%20lensing%20occurs%20when%20a,accordingly%20called%20a%20gravitational%20lens.">gravitational lensing</a>. That's what happens when a cluster of distant galaxies is so massive that it warps space-time, bending the light from galaxies far in the distance behind it. That creates mirror images of those galaxies, reflected back at us.</p><p>So the imprint of the mystery objects appears in three spots in the images above. Breakouts of those three images of the system, on the right, show how much clearer Webb's images are. They clearly show two different objects.</p><p>"We're actively discussing whether these are two galaxies or two clumps of stars within a galaxy," Coe said in the release. "We don't know, but these are the questions that Webb is designed to help us answer."<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/webb-infared-early-universe-hubble-ultraviolet-insights-breathtaking-images-2022-8"></a></p><h2>Webb shows crashing galaxies in greater detail than Hubble</h2><div type="image" title="An animated gif shows picture from Hubble and James Webb space telescopes of NGC 3256" height="900" width="1200" msid="101677171" hostid="261" sizebytes="75784"></div><p>While Hubble's image of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jwst-image-shows-wreckage-of-two-galaxies-crashing-james-webb-2023-7">two colliding galaxies</a> is stunning, it doesn't capture all the chaos that you can see in Webb's clearer version. The two gas clouds crashed into each other about 500 million years ago. </p><p>Webb's powerful <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-james-webb-hidden-details-infrared-galaxies-2022-7">infrared cameras</a> picked up incredibly bright clouds made of dust and stars from the new galaxy, which is roughly 120 million light-years away. The relatively new stars "radiate enormously brightly in infrared wavelengths," ESA reported. In the Webb image, they appear bright orange and red.</p><p>Scientists hope Webb's images will help them understand what happens when two galaxies collide and provide insight into how supermassive black holes become billions of times more massive than the sun, <a href="https://www.space.com/webb-telescope-galactic-collision-image">per Space.com</a>.</p><p><em>This post has been updated with new information. It was originally published on December 4, 2022.</em></p>

10 times NASA's James Webb Space Telescope spotted something Hubble missed

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/57695a48dd0895aa298b4aaf-2000/thumb15-potw1036a.jpeg" alt="Very Large Telescope four lasers 5" data-mce-source="ESO" /><p class="source"><span>ESO</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>Astronomers have used a powerful mountaintop observatory to record three of the most detailed photos yet of infant alien solar systems forming planets.</p><p>The scientists were even able to see "intriguing" shadows cast by clouds of gas and dust in one of the images.</p><p>The photos could help pop more pieces into the longstanding puzzle of how <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/carl-sagan-pale-blue-dot-earth-photos-2016-11">Earth</a> came to exist.</p><p>Ask an astronomer how planets form, and she'll say parts of a giant wheel of gas and dust around a newborn star, called a protoplanetary disk, somehow collapse into blobs. Each blob snowballs, clearing lanes in the disk as it grows bigger and bigger until you have a new planet. Cooking time: A few million years.</p><p>But the <a href="http://www.space.com/4289-major-planet-formation-mystery-solved.html">details are still mysterious</a>. For example: What starts the party? How do planets end up spinning? And what causes a rocky planet to form as opposed to a gas giant?</p><p>"[A]stronomers don't know exactly how planets are formed," Emma Yu, an astronomer at the University of Texas in Austin, <a href="http://askanastronomer.org/planets/2015/10/25/forming-planets/">writes at "Ask An Astronomer"</a>.</p><p>So we continue to look to the stars for clues - and the "unprecedented detail" in the new images, write the authors of <a href="http://www.eso.org/public/archives/releases/sciencepapers/eso1640/eso1640a.pdf">three</a> <a href="http://www.eso.org/public/archives/releases/sciencepapers/eso1640/eso1640b.pdf">new</a> <a href="http://www.eso.org/public/archives/releases/sciencepapers/eso1640/eso1640c.pdf">studies</a> in the journal Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics, may bring them that much closer to the complicated truth.</p><p>The scientists used an instrument called <a href="https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/vlt/vlt-instr/sphere/">SPHERE</a> on the Very Large Telescope (VLT) - an array of four different telescopes run by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) - to take the new images of infant solar systems and their protoplanetary disks.</p><p>SPHERE made this possible because it blocks out the light of the central star, allowing any dim protoplanetary disks to be seen.</p><p>Here's one that looks top-down on the star system HD 135344B, which is located some 450 light-years from Earth:</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5824aebd46e27a1b008b5ed9-923/protoplanet-formation-gas-disk-eso1640d.jpg" alt="protoplanet formation gas disk eso1640d" data-mce-source="ESO, T. Stolker et al." data-link="https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1640d/" /><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1640d/">ESO, T. Stolker et al.</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Some of the arms are brighter than the others, which is strange - they appeared to be shadows. And over several observations, the shadows appeared to move.</p><p>Astronomers who <a href="http://www.eso.org/public/archives/releases/sciencepapers/eso1640/eso1640c.pdf">studied</a> this image eventually realized that the nascent solar system had twisted inner and outer disks, not just one flat disk, and the moving material was causing the shadows, much like a bird flying in front of a lighthouse's lamp.</p><p>From there, they figured out what a cross-section of the system looked like, including a "warp" zone between the disks (25 AU, or astronomical units, is about the distance from the sun to somewhere between Uranus and Neptune):</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5824b47246e27a6a5a8b5294-949/protoplanetary disk astronomy astrophysics t stolker.png" alt="protoplanetary disk astronomy astrophysics t stolker" data-mce-source="ESO/T. Stolker et al./Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics" data-link="http://www.eso.org/public/archives/releases/sciencepapers/eso1640/eso1640c.pdf" /><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.eso.org/public/archives/releases/sciencepapers/eso1640/eso1640c.pdf">ESO/T. Stolker et al./Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Below is another new image of a new solar system from SPHERE.</p><p>This one is called RX J1615, and it's a real baby at just 1.8 million years old (our solar system is about 4.6 billion years old).</p><p>The SPHERE image shows the system from a glancing angle, which allowed <a href="http://www.eso.org/public/archives/releases/sciencepapers/eso1640/eso1640a.pdf">another group</a> of astronomers to figure out some of its secrets from 600 light-years away:</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5824b52146e27a1b008b5f00-800/protoplanet-solar-system-gas-dust-eso1640b.jpg" alt="protoplanet solar system gas dust eso1640b" data-mce-source="ESO, J. de Boer et al." data-link="https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1640b/" /><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1640b/">ESO, J. de Boer et al.</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The photo is a first and revealed "a complex system of concentric rings surrounding the young star, forming a shape resembling a titanic version of the rings that encircle Saturn," according to <a href="https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1640/">an ESO press release</a>.</p><p>And below is yet another new image studied by <a href="http://www.eso.org/public/archives/releases/sciencepapers/eso1640/eso1640b.pdf">a third group</a> of astronomers.</p><p>This star system, called HD 97048, is located about 500 light-years away. It has some unusual structures and gaps - features that helped the team figure where its nascent planets might be:</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5824b66746e27a1b008b5f07-800/protoplanet-solar-system-gas-dust-eso1640c.jpg" alt="protoplanet solar system gas dust eso1640c" data-mce-source="ESO, C. Ginski et al." data-link="https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1640c/" /><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1640c/">ESO, C. Ginski et al.</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>"Through painstaking analysis, they found that the juvenile disc around this star has also formed into concentric rings," according to the ESO's release, and with highly unusual symmetry.</p><p>Alone, each new image is pretty incredible: These are baby solar systems that may one day form Earth-like planets.</p><p>But together they provide a wealth of information that astronomers may one day use to figure out how, exactly, we all got here.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/exoplanets-signs-life-science-eso-nasa-space-2016-5">Astronomers say these newly discovered planets are the best places to search for aliens</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="M2M3k4MzE6GHlQLi6L1zcmZtuJ-zfSf0" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'M2M3k4MzE6GHlQLi6L1zcmZtuJ-zfSf0',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

Astronomers have found 'intriguing' shadows in new photos of alien solar systems

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5787ca1388e4a7fd018b811b-700/eso1626a.jpg" alt="eso1626a" data-mce-source="A. Angelich (NRAO/AUI/NSF)/ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)" /><p class="source"><span>A. Angelich (NRAO/AUI/NSF)/ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>A collection of telescopes called <a href="http://www.almaobservatory.org/en/about-alma">the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array</a> (ALMA) has captured something that, until now, scientists had never seen.</p><p>About 1,350 light years from Earth, they spotted the snow line (the point where the water vapor surrounding a star becomes snow and ice) of a young star called V883 Orionis.</p><p>The <a href="http://nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/nature18612">research was published</a> this week in the journal <em>Nature</em>.</p><p>According to an ESO press release, <a href="http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1626/">young stars are often surrounded by something called a protoplanetary disc</a>, which is a dense rotating disc of gas, dust, and debris where planets are born. Rocky planets like Earth and Mars are formed in the inner part of the protoplanetary disc. Past the water snow line of the protoplanetary disc is where cometary bodies, ice giants, and massive gaseous planets, like Jupiter, form.</p><p>The water snow line of most stars is around 280 million miles from the center (three times the distance from Earth to the sun), which is too close for astronomers to see. But a dramatic increase in the brightness of V883 Orionis pushed the water snow line out about 4 billion miles (the average distance that Pluto orbits the sun), which allowed astronomers to observe it for the first time.</p><p>An outburst blasting the water snowline out so far might actually be a common occurrence, but this is the first observation of it happening. It might lead to a better understanding of how planets throughout the universe formed and evolved.</p><p>"The distribution of water ice around a young star is <a href="https://public.nrao.edu/news/pressreleases/2016-alma-water-snowline">fundamental to planet formation and even the development of life on Earth</a>," Zhaohuan Zhu, an astronomer at Princeton University and a co-author on the new work, said in a statement. "ALMA's observation sheds important light on how and where this happens in protoplanetary disks when young planets are still forming. We now have direct evidence that a frosty region conducive to planet formation exists around other stars."</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/orion-nebula-space-reveals-planet-sized-objects-giant-cloud-astronomers-2016-7"> Astronomers discovered planet-sized objects in a place they did not expect</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="VzcTNwNDE69bOX7plgJUpWVrXu9AVmff" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'VzcTNwNDE69bOX7plgJUpWVrXu9AVmff',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

You Searched For "protoplanetary disk" and got 7 results

Butterfly basin: Astronomers find the biggest known reservoir of planet-forming ingredients around a young star!

Kunal Kambli

At least 7 stars in our galaxy have the potential to harbor advanced alien technology, researchers find

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Icy pebbles may be carrying water to developing planets across the cosmos!

Ashmita Gupta

The James Webb Space Telescope found a molecular building block of life hiding in the Orion Nebula

Natalie Musumeci,Morgan McFall-Johnsen

10 times NASA's James Webb Space Telescope spotted something Hubble missed

Paola Rosa-Aquino,Morgan McFall-Johnsen

Astronomers have found 'intriguing' shadows in new photos of alien solar systems

Dave Mosher

Astronomers just spotted something that will give them insight into how planets form

Ali Sundermier