NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Finds Crystal-Spewing Protostar
The NIRCam (near infrared camera) on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope captured the actively forming protostar EC 53 (circled at left) in the Serpens Nebula in this image released January 21, 2026.
Astronomers have long searched for evidence to explain why comets on the outskirts of our own solar system contain crystalline silicates, because the crystals require intense heat to form and these “dirty snowballs” spend most of their time in the ultracold Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud. Now, looking outside our solar system, Webb has provided the first conclusive evidence linking how these conditions are possible.
The telescope clearly showed for the first time that the hot inner part of the disk of gas and dust surrounding a very young, actively forming star is where crystalline silicates are forged. Webb also revealed a strong flow capable of transporting the crystals to the outer edges of this disk. Compared to our own fully formed and essentially dusted solar system, the crystals would form approximately between the Sun and Earth.
Learn more about this discovery.
Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Klaus Pontoppidan (NASA-JPL), Joel Green (STScI); Image processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)
