Nasa releases breathtaking image of planetary nebula from James Webb Space Telescope

The nebula is 2,500 light-years from the Earth

(Independent )

Nasa has released a new image taken by the James Webb Space Telescope.

“The dimmer star at the center of this scene has been sending out rings of gas and dust for thousands of years in all directions, and NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has revealed for the first time that this star is cloaked in dust”, Nasa wrote on its website.

“Two cameras aboard Webb captured the latest image of this planetary nebula, cataloged as NGC 3132, and known informally as the Southern Ring Nebula. It is approximately 2,500 light-years away.

“Webb will allow astronomers to dig into many more specifics about planetary nebulae like this one – clouds of gas and dust expelled by dying stars. Understanding which molecules are present, and where they lie throughout the shells of gas and dust will help researchers refine their knowledge of these objects.”

Nasa had previously revealed the very first public image taken by the Webb telescope - a sea of galaxies and spiky stars. It is the most distant image of the universe ever taken.

“If you held a grain of sand on the tip of your finger at arms length, that is the part of the universe you are seeing,” Nasa administrator Bill Nelson said. “That light you are seeing on one of those little specks, has been traveling for over 13 billion years.”

While stars in the foreground have blue-white spikes, the most distant galaxies appear with orange-red smears. This is because they are distorted caused by a technique known as gravitational lensing, using SMACS 0723 - a galaxy cluster closer to Earth - a lens for magnification.

“Such systems are often called ‘nature’s telescopes,’” University of Chicago cosmologist Michael Gladders said of gravitational lensing in an interview with The Independent, “as they can give us a sharper view of distant galaxies.”

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