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Today: April 22, 2025
Today: April 22, 2025

Webb Space Telescope captures a star in the making and a galaxy far, far away

Space Telescope Cosmic Shot
March 24, 2025

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) โ€” The Webb Space Telescope has captured a plume of gas and dust streaming from a star in the making, with a spiral galaxy as a stunning backdrop.

The composite image makes it look as though the overflow of stellar material is the billowing contrail of a rocket on its way to the galaxy. NASA and the European Space Agency released the photo on Monday.

The outflow is about 625 light-years from Earth in one of the closest star-forming regions of our Milky Way galaxy, according to NASA. A light-year is equivalent to almost 6 trillion miles.

Launched in 2021 as the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, Webb observed the scene in the infrared. NASA said in a statement it was โ€œa lucky alignmentโ€ of the two unrelated objects.

NASA's retired Spitzer Space Telescope captured the same shot in 2006, with scientists then dubbing the stellar jet โ€œthe cosmic tornado.โ€ But it was too fuzzy to make out the background galaxy and other details. Webb is the largest and most powerful observatory ever launched into space.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Instituteโ€™s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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