The James Webb Space Telescope captured new images of the heart of the Milky Way. Photo: Nasa
The James Webb Space Telescope captured new images of the heart of the Milky Way. Photo: Nasa
The James Webb Space Telescope captured new images of the heart of the Milky Way. Photo: Nasa
The James Webb Space Telescope captured new images of the heart of the Milky Way. Photo: Nasa

James Webb Space Telescope captures new details of Milky Way


Sarwat Nasir
  • English
  • Arabic

One of the world's most advanced telescopes has captured new images of the centre of the Milky Way galaxy, helping astronomers to learn how stars form in more detail than ever before.

The James Webb Space Telescope, launched in 2021, has powerful cameras and highly sensitive instruments that allow it to view objects in space that older technology could not pick up.

Using a technique called infrared astronomy, it has now taken images of a region in the galaxy, called Sagittarius C, which shows about 500,000 stars and some unidentified features that researchers will now analyse in more detail.

The observations by the $10 billion telescope were close enough to study each star individually, even though Sagittarius C is situated 25,000 light years away from Earth.

“There’s never been any infrared data on this region with the level of resolution and sensitivity we get with Webb, so we are seeing lots of features here for the first time,” said Samuel Crowe, the observation team’s principal investigator at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

“Webb reveals an incredible amount of detail, allowing us to study star formation in this sort of environment in a way that wasn’t possible previously.”

The Webb telescope’s near-infrared camera also captured large emissions of ionised hydrogen in a vast area of the Milky Way. Photo: Nasa
The Webb telescope’s near-infrared camera also captured large emissions of ionised hydrogen in a vast area of the Milky Way. Photo: Nasa

The galactic centre is the most extreme environment in the Milky Way. It is hoped that understanding more about it will help astronomers test their theories on star formation.

The new images also reveal a cluster of protostars – stars that are still forming – but the cloud these are emerging from is so dense that the light from the cluster cannot reach the Webb telescope.

Nasa said that even though it looks less crowded in the image, it is one of the most densely-packed areas.

The telescope’s near-infrared camera also captured large emissions of ionised hydrogen surrounding the lower side of the cloud.

This is normally the result of energy being emitted by young, enormous stars but the scale of the emissions has surprised scientists – meaning further investigations will follow.

“The galactic centre is a crowded, tumultuous place,” said Ruben Fedriani, a co-investigator of the project at the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia in Spain.

“There are turbulent, magnetised gas clouds that are forming stars, which then impact the surrounding gas with their outflowing winds, jets and radiation.

“Webb has provided us with a ton of data on this extreme environment, and we are just starting to dig into it.”

Through the observations, researchers will also be able to study how star formation in the galactic centre depends on the cosmic environment in comparison to other regions of the galaxy.

The telescope was launched on Christmas Day, 2021, to help reveal secrets of the universe and how it was formed.

The first image from it was revealed by US President Joe Biden on July 11, 2022. It showed the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 as it was 4.6 billion years ago.

Researchers have also been using the telescope to learn more about the solar system and its planets.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The White Lotus: Season three

Creator: Mike White

Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell

Rating: 4.5/5

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Mina Cup winners

Under 12 – Minerva Academy

Under 14 – Unam Pumas

Under 16 – Fursan Hispania

Under 18 – Madenat

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Pakistan T20 series squad

Sarfraz Ahmed (captain), Fakhar Zaman, Ahmed Shahzad, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Mohammed Hafeez, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Mohammed Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Amir Yamin, Mohammed Amir (subject to fitness clearance), Rumman Raees, Usman Shinwari, Umar Amin

Turkish Ladies

Various artists, Sony Music Turkey 

MATCH INFO

Chelsea 1 (Hudson-Odoi 90 1')

Manchester City 3 (Gundogan 18', Foden 21', De Bruyne 34')

Man of the match: Ilkay Gundogan (Man City)

Europe’s rearming plan
  • Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
  • Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
  • Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
  • Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
  • Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
ENGLAND TEAM

England (15-1)
George Furbank; Jonny May, Manu Tuilagi, Owen Farrell (capt), Elliot Daly; George Ford, Ben Youngs; Tom Curry, Sam Underhill, Courtney Lawes; Charlie Ewels, Maro Itoje; Kyle Sinckler, Jamie George, Joe Marler
Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ellis Genge, Will Stuart, George Kruis, Lewis Ludlam, Willi Heinz, Ollie Devoto, Jonathan Joseph

BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES

Friday (all kick-offs UAE time)

Hertha Berlin v Union Berlin (10.30pm)

Saturday

Freiburg v Werder Bremen (5.30pm)

Paderborn v Hoffenheim (5.30pm)

Wolfsburg v Borussia Dortmund (5.30pm)

Borussia Monchengladbach v Bayer Leverkusen (5.30pm)

Bayern Munich v Eintracht Frankfurt (5.30pm)

Sunday

Schalke v Augsburg (3.30pm)

Mainz v RB Leipzig (5.30pm)

Cologne v Fortuna Dusseldorf (8pm)

ACC 2019: The winners in full

Best Actress Maha Alemi, Sofia

Best Actor Mohamed Dhrif, Weldi  

Best Screenplay Meryem Benm’Barek, Sofia  

Best Documentary Of Fathers and Sons by Talal Derki

Best Film Yomeddine by Abu Bakr Shawky

Best Director Nadine Labaki, Capernaum
 

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-5 C Conners (Can)

-3 B Koepka (US), K Bradley (US), V Hovland (Nor), A Wise (US), S Horsfield (Eng), C Davis (Aus);

-2 C Morikawa (US), M Laird (Sco), C Tringale (US)

Selected others: -1 P Casey (Eng), R Fowler (US), T Hatton (Eng)

Level B DeChambeau (US), J Rose (Eng) 

1 L Westwood (Eng), J Spieth (US)

3 R McIlroy (NI)

4 D Johnson (US)

Match info

Costa Rica 0

Serbia 1
Kolarov (56')

Scores

Day 2

New Zealand 153 & 56-1
Pakistan 227

New Zealand trail by 18 runs with nine wickets remaining

Reputation

Taylor Swift

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Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion

The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.

Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".

The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.

He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.

"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.

As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.

Updated: November 21, 2023, 11:00 AM