Photo posted on NASA website on Oct. 19, 2022 shows the Pillars of Creation set off in a kaleidoscope of color in NASA's James Webb Space Telescope's near-infrared-light view. (Photo credit: Space Telescope Science Institute)
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has captured the iconic Pillars of Creation, where new stars are forming within dense clouds of gas and dust, the agency said on Wednesday.
The three-dimensional pillars look like majestic rock formations, but are far more permeable. These columns are made up of cool interstellar gas and dust that appear semi-transparent in near-infrared light, according to NASA.
Webb's new view of the Pillars of Creation, which were first made famous when imaged by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope in 1995, will help researchers revamp their models of star formation by identifying far more precise counts of newly formed stars, along with the quantities of gas and dust in the region, said NASA.
The James Webb Space Telescope is the world's premier space science observatory.
Webb will solve mysteries in the solar system, look beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probe the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it, according to NASA.
Webb is an international program led by NASA with European Space Agency and Canadian Space Agency.
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