“Cosmic Cliffs” in the Carina Nebula (NIRCam and MIRI Composite Image)

“Cosmic Cliffs” in the Carina Nebula (NIRCam and MIRI Composite Image)
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Image: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (a U.S. federal government agency; https://www.nasa.gov/) Europe

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Astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope combined the capabilities of the telescope’s two cameras to create a never-before-seen view of a star-forming region in the Carina Nebula. Captured in infrared light by the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), this combined image reveals previously invisible areas of star birth. What looks much like craggy mountains on a moonlit evening is actually the edge of a nearby, young, star-forming region known as NGC 3324. Called the Cosmic Cliffs, this rim of a gigantic, gaseous cavity is roughly 7,600 light-years away.

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