Webb reveals vast stellar nursery IC 348
The James Webb Space Telescope has captured one of its largest images ever: a sweeping panorama of the stellar nursery IC 348.
The region lies about 1,000 light-years from Earth. It is a cloud of gas and dust where new stars are being born.
Webb's infrared eyes can see through the dust that blocks visible light. The new image reveals very low-mass brown dwarfs, objects that are too small to be stars but too big to be planets.
Some of these brown dwarfs are record-breaking in their small size. Studying them helps astronomers understand the lower limit of how stars form.
Star-forming regions like IC 348 are laboratories for astronomy. They show how clouds of gas collapse into stars and how young stars shape their surroundings.
The image is part of Webb's ongoing survey of stellar nurseries. Each new panorama adds pieces to the puzzle of how stars and planets are born across the galaxy.
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