NGC 346 is an open star cluster located in the Small Magellanic Cloud, a small galaxy located about 200,000 light-years from Earth. It is one of the most active star-forming regions in the Small Magellanic Cloud and is home to several massive, young stars.
The stars from NGC 346 emit intense ultraviolet radiation, which ionizes the surrounding gas and dust, creating a bright, colorful region known as an H II region. NGC 346 is also home to several protoplanetary disks, which are thought to be the precursors to planetary systems. The cluster is thought to be about 20 million years old and is visible in the constellation of Tucana.
James Webb focuses on NGC 346
Harnessing the huge powers of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers found something unexpected in the NGC 346 star cluster. They concluded that the amount of dust present in the cosmic area was way above what they were expecting.
Stars being in their formation process gather gas and dust, and they take a beautiful shape in images caught by the James Webb telescope. However, it was the first time that astronomers were able to locate the presence of dust around the cluster in question by using Webb’s capabilities.
Stars across the spectrum! ⭐
These two views of NGC 346 show a dynamic, massive star-forming region in the Small Magellanic Cloud, which is a satellite galaxy to our own Milky Way.
What's going on in NGC 346? pic.twitter.com/UrItoCROR9
— Hubble (@NASAHubble) January 11, 2023
Guido De Marchi from the European Space Agency (ESA), explained as Fox News quotes:
We’re seeing the building blocks, not only of stars, but also potentially of planets,
And since the Small Magellanic Cloud has a similar environment to galaxies during cosmic noon, it’s possible that rocky planets could have formed earlier in the universe than we might have thought.
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is considered to be the most powerful space telescope ever built. It is equipped with a primary mirror that is 6.5 meters (21.3 feet) in diameter, which is more than 2.5 times larger than the primary mirror of the Hubble Space Telescope. This large mirror allows the JWST to collect more light and therefore see further and fainter objects than the Hubble Space Telescope.
