James Webb and Hubble telescopes join forces to explore a cosmic nursery: Space photo of the week
Rapid facts
What is: The Open Star Clusters NGC 460 and NGC 456
Where is it: 200,000 light years, in the little Magellanic Cloud Dwarf Galaxy
When it was shared: July 7, 2025
NASA Hubble Spatial Telescope and James Webb space telescope (JWST) has united its forces to capture a new striking view of two clusters of stars open in the small Magellanic cloud, a dwarf satellite orbit galaxy of the Milky Way.
The spectacular image of 527 megapixels is the result of 12 observations which overlap in the visible light (by Hubble) and infrared light (by JWST). It shows two open clusters, called NGC 460 and NGC 456, which house thousands of stars at various stages of development. A version of 87 megapixels of the image can be downloaded NASA.
Star clusters are Star groups Who share an origin, are formed roughly at the same time and at the location, and are vaguely kept together by gravity. The stars of NGC 460 and NGC 456 are not more than 10 million years old – a contrast that struck with the 4.5 billion years of the sun.
With bluish clouds of gas full of young stars and red dust filaments, the image reveals the process by which the stars are formed. As new stars develop in gas clouds, they expel radiation or collapse, triggering additional stars formation. Hubble captured, in visible and close infrared spectra, shiny and ionized gas in the shape of a radiation from stars – bluish “bubbles” in the image.
Meanwhile, JWST observed the same regions in infrared light, revealing the shiny red dust tracks while they absorb the light of the stars. JWST cannot directly see ionized gas bubbles, and Hubble does not detect dust – he only sees dark silhouettes – so collaboration is ideal.
Astronomers study the small magellanic cloud because it does not have the heavier elements found in large galaxies such as the Milky Way. It therefore reproduces what more primitive galaxies look like in the early universe.
NGC 460 and NGC 456 are part of the N83-84-85 complex, a nursery of massive stars. It houses stars of the rare and extremely massive type, including perhaps 20,000 in the Milky Way.
For more images of sublime space, consult our Archives week space photo.
