- NASA released a new image of the Red Spider Nebula with unprecedented detail from JWST
- The nebula's lobes, shown in blue, are bubble-like structures extending about three light-years
- These lobes are traced by light from H2 molecules and inflated by gas outflows over thousands of years
NASA has shared a new image of the Red Spider Nebula, also known as NGC 6537, with never-before-seen details. The photo taken by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) for the first time shows the full extent of the nebula's lobes, shown in blue colour. These lobes are closed, bubble-like structures that each extend about three light-years. They look like giant 'legs' of the spider, with the European Space Agency (ESA) calling it "cosmic creepy-crawly".
The Red Spider Nebula is a breathtaking planetary nebula approximately 3,000 light-years away from Earth. This stunning celestial object is the result of a star's final evolutionary stage, where it sheds its outer layers, creating a shell of gas and dust.
NASA stated that these lobes are traced by light emitted from H2 molecules, which contain two hydrogen atoms bonded together. These huge bubbles have been inflated by the outflowing gas from the centre of the nebula over thousands of years.
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As a star like our Sun exhausts its fuel, it expands into a red giant, expelling its outer layers into space. The exposed core, now a white dwarf, emits intense ultraviolet radiation, causing the ejected material to glow, creating the vibrant colours of the planetary nebula.
"Planetary nebulae like this one are made when a Sun-like star reaches the end of its life. After ballooning into a red giant, the star then throws off its outer layers into space, revealing its white-hot core. Ultraviolet light from the central star causes the cast-off material to glow," NASA said.
The US-based space agency revealed that the image was captured by NIRCam, James Webb's primary near-infrared imager, which aims to provide high-resolution imaging and spectroscopy for a wide variety of investigations.
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"Though we can only see one star - the central star - here, it's possible that there is a companion star, too. Its presence could explain the nebula's shape: the characteristic narrow waist and wide outflows," NASA said. The gravitational influence of this unseen partner sculpts the ejected material, creating the nebula's characteristic bipolar form.
A Glimpse into the Future
The Red Spider Nebula offers a glimpse into the future of our own Sun, which is expected to undergo a similar transformation in about 5 billion years. As the Sun exhausts its fuel, it will expand into a red giant, shedding its outer layers and creating a planetary nebula, leaving behind a white dwarf remnant
As per NASA, this hourglass shape, as seen in the Red Spider Nebula, is also observed in other planetary nebulae such as the Butterfly Nebula, also captured by Webb recently.
