Webb captures massive star-forming complex in Large Magellanic Cloud

A bright young star within a colourful nebula takes center stage in this latest image from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. The star is this brightest spot in this image of the N79 nebula, a region of interstellar atomic hydrogen that is ionised. It lies in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a satellite galaxy of our Milky Way galaxy.

N79 is a massive star-forming complex spanning roughly 1630 light-years in the generally unexplored southwest region of the LMC. Typically regarded as a younger version of 30 Doradus (also known as the Tarantula Nebula), N79 has a star formation efficiency exceeding that of 30 Doradus by a factor of two over the past 500,000 years.

Astronomers are interested in stellar nurseries like N79 because their chemical composition is similar to that of the gigantic star-forming regions observed when the Universe was young and star formation was at its peak.

The star formation rate in N79 is significantly greater compared to the regions in our Milky Way galaxy and they also have a different chemical composition.

With its groundbreaking capabilities to observe distant galaxies in the early Universe, Webb is now providing astronomers the opportunity to compare and contrast observations of star formation in N79.

These observations are part of a Webb programme focused on studying the evolution of the circumstellar discs and envelopes of forming stars over a wide range in mass and at different evolutionary stages. For the first time, scientists will be able to detect the planet-forming dust discs around stars of similar mass to that of our Sun at the distance of the LMC, thanks to Webb's sensitivity.

🆕 The NASA/ESA/CSA James #Webb Space Telescope has captured an H II region in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), which orbits our Milky Way. This nebula, known as N79, is a massive star-forming complex spanning roughly 1630 light-years in the generally unexplored region of the… pic.twitter.com/7fLAIGfaEb

— ESA (@esa) January 23, 2024