See a ‘lion’ hiding in stunning new Webb Space Telescope images
The James Webb Space Telescope reveals the Lion Nebula in remarkable new detail.
The James Webb Space Telescope recently caught a rare sight, capturing the moment two neutron stars collided.
Dazzling new images taken by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope show an astronomical object known for its striking resemblance to a lion’s face.
NGC 2392, more commonly called the Lion Nebula, received its nickname from its hazy dust “mane” and the dying star at its center, which resembles a “button nose,” according to NASA. The images were taken by Webb, using its Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI).
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope imaged the planetary nebula NGC 2392, the Lion Nebula, using the observatory’s NIRCam and MIRI instruments. The central star’s remains are responsible for the nebula’s structure, including a lion face-shaped bubble of ionized gas and dust “mane.” (Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI))
The agency previously captured images of the feline-themed planetary nebula in 2000 using the Hubble Space Telescope. Webb’s higher-resolution images show that the Lion Nebula continues to evolve.
“Webb’s imagery ‘freezes’ this planetary nebula in time, though the star’s death, and its tumultuous effects, go on,” NASA said.
The current shape of the nebula’s “mane,” a collection of gas and dust, formed over several thousand years and is shaped by the stellar remnant at its core. The mane, which is the interior of a dust shell, is illuminated by this remnant, known as a white dwarf.
NASA explained that a star begins to die when it can no longer sustain itself through nuclear reactions in its core. It then pulsates and sheds its outer layers, forming shells of dust and gas known as a planetary nebula. A “hot stellar core,” or white dwarf, remains after the star sheds its outer layers.
“In the Lion Nebula’s case, the death of the oxygen-rich central star has left behind a white dwarf that is 'cooking' everything from the inside and producing a bubble of ionized gas as it does,” NASA said. “The gas bubble, which forms the lion’s face, is expanding over time and destroying dust that is in its path.”
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s mid-infrared image of planetary nebula NGC 2392, nicknamed the Lion Nebula, highlights the varying dust structures. Some dust is being destroyed by the dying central star’s radiation, while some dust filaments manage to survive. (Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI))
While the Lion Nebula will continue to change over time as dust and gas move away from the center, astronomers predict it will disperse in about 10,000 years, which experts note is “a relatively short period in astronomical terms.”
The James Webb Space Telescope launched in December 2021 and arrived at the second Lagrange point (L2) in January the following year, according to NASA. The observatory studies every phase of the universe, from the Big Bang to the evolution of our solar system.
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