The James Webb Space Telescope has managed to “peek” into the “Extreme Outer Galaxy”, which is allowing scientists to examine a star-forming region reminiscent of the Milky Way during its early stages of formation.
The European Space Agency (ESA) reported in a note released on Thursday that astronomers have directed the telescope – from NASA, ESA and the Canadian CSA – to examine the exterior of the Milky Way, a region that scientists call the “Extreme Outer Galaxy” because of its location, more than 58,000 light-years from the galactic center.
Scientists used several of the telescope’s cameras to image selected regions within two molecular clouds known as the Digel Clouds, and thanks to its high sensitivity and sharp resolution, Webb was able to resolve these regions, which are home to star clusters undergoing bursts of star formation, in unprecedented detail.
The telescope’s observations allow scientists to study star formation in the outer Milky Way in the same level of detail as observations of star formation in the Milky Way’s solar neighborhood.
Although the “Digel Clouds” are located within our galaxy, they are relatively poor in elements heavier than hydrogen and helium, a composition that resembles dwarf galaxies and the Milky Way in its early days.
The ESA has pointed out in the same note that the history of star formation is complex and some chapters remain shrouded in mystery, but the James Webb is gathering clues and helping astronomers unravel this intricate story, and the results of this work have been published in the Astronomical Journal.