Exposed Cranium Nebula (MIRI image) (weic2605d)

Free photos, properly licensed

More of the dusty material in the nebula PMR 1 shows up in the mid-infrared light captured by the James Webb Space Telescope’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument). Fewer stars and background galaxies appear in this image than in the near-infrared light captured by Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) instrument. Seeing the nebula in different wavelengths of infrared light will give astronomers a better idea of how much material the dying star at the heart of the nebula is shedding, and what phase of its decline Webb has captured.Like NIRCam, MIRI also shows two distinctly different-looking phases o