Astronomy Telescope takes spectacular photo of "space tornado"
Dark red and orange clouds of nebulosity seem to rise up in the midst of countless stars and a spiral galaxy at their tip: the James Webb telescope has captured an impressive image of the so-called Cosmic Vortex.
25.03.2025, 06:25
SDA
The object is located about 630 light years from Earth and is officially called Herbig-Haro 49/50. Herbig-Haro objects consist of ejections from a young star that forms nearby. When the currents hit denser material, shock waves are created which heat the matter. This then cools down by emitting light in the visible and infrared range.
The new telescope images could help experts to better understand the properties of stellar ejections and how this affects the environment.
"James Webb" was built jointly by the space agencies in Europe (Esa), the USA (Nasa) and Canada (CSA) and was launched into space at the end of 2021 - after cost explosions and repeated postponements.
