Young Star Cluster NGC 602 in Hydrus | James Webb Space Telescope

Young Star Cluster NGC 602 in Hydrus | James Webb Space Telescope

Near the outskirts of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), a satellite galaxy roughly 200,000 light-years from Earth, lies the young star cluster NGC 602. It is featured in this new image from the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope. This image includes data from Webb’s NIRCam (Near-InfraRed Camera) and MIRI (Mid-InfraRed Instrument).

The local environment of this cluster is a close analog of what existed in the early Universe, with very low abundances of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium. The existence of dark clouds of dense dust and the fact that the cluster is rich in ionized gas also suggest the presence of ongoing star formation processes. This cluster provides a valuable opportunity to examine star formation scenarios under dramatically different conditions from those in the solar neighborhood.

An international team of astronomers, including Peter Zeidler, Elena Sabbi, and Antonella Nota, used Webb to observe NGC 602 and detected candidates for the first young brown dwarfs outside our Milky Way. 

Image Description: A star cluster is shown inside a large nebula of many-colored gas and dust. The material forms dark ridges and peaks of gas and dust surrounding the cluster, lit on the inner side, while layers of diffuse, translucent clouds blanket over them. Around and within the gas, a huge number of distant galaxies can be seen, a number are quite large, as well as a few stars nearer to us that are very large and bright.

Credit: European Space Agency/Webb, NASA & CSA, P. Zeidler, E. Sabbi, A. Nota, M. Zamani (ESA/Webb)

Release Date: Oct. 23, 2024

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