{"id":356712,"date":"2026-01-28T02:08:49","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T16:08:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?guid=3e88d51fd49fef2493d17ac4a9d33b71"},"modified":"2026-01-28T02:08:49","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T16:08:49","slug":"nasas-james-webb-space-telescope-finds-crystal-spewing-protostar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=356712","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s James Webb Space Telescope Finds Crystal-Spewing Protostar"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"\" class=\"hds-media hds-module wp-block-image\">\n<div class=\"margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-inline\">\n<div class=\"hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto\">\n<figure class=\"hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-none \"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/stsci-01keswn3g28kzcqpz2ghhdkac3-e1f0ce.png\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1298\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/stsci-01keswn3g28kzcqpz2ghhdkac3-e1f0ce.png?w=2048\" class=\"attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048\" alt=\"A rectangular image of the Serpens Nebula with black vertical rectangles at the bottom left and top right to indicate missing data. A young star-forming region is filled with wispy orange, red, and blue layers of gas and dust. The upper left corner of the image is filled with mostly orange dust, and within that orange dust, there are several small red plumes of gas that extend from the top left to the bottom right at the same angle. At center-left is a larger star that is circled. This star has Webb\u2019s signature diffraction spikes, but along the right also has an arc of white, with the circular edge starting at the center of the star. Mostly blue gas fills the center. There is a particularly bright central star. The gas to the right is a darker orange. Small points of light are sprinkled across the field. The brightest sources have extensive eight-pointed diffraction spikes.\" style=\"transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;\" block_context=\"nasa-block\" loading=\"eager\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/stsci-01keswn3g28kzcqpz2ghhdkac3-e1f0ce.png 12682w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/stsci-01keswn3g28kzcqpz2ghhdkac3-e1f0ce.png?resize=300,190 300w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/stsci-01keswn3g28kzcqpz2ghhdkac3-e1f0ce.png?resize=768,487 768w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/stsci-01keswn3g28kzcqpz2ghhdkac3-e1f0ce.png?resize=1024,649 1024w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/stsci-01keswn3g28kzcqpz2ghhdkac3-e1f0ce.png?resize=1536,973 1536w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/stsci-01keswn3g28kzcqpz2ghhdkac3-e1f0ce.png?resize=2048,1298 2048w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/stsci-01keswn3g28kzcqpz2ghhdkac3-e1f0ce.png?resize=400,253 400w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/stsci-01keswn3g28kzcqpz2ghhdkac3-e1f0ce.png?resize=600,380 600w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/stsci-01keswn3g28kzcqpz2ghhdkac3-e1f0ce.png?resize=900,570 900w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/stsci-01keswn3g28kzcqpz2ghhdkac3-e1f0ce.png?resize=1200,760 1200w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/stsci-01keswn3g28kzcqpz2ghhdkac3-e1f0ce.png?resize=2000,1267 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><figcaption class=\"hds-caption padding-y-2\">\n<div class=\"hds-credits\">NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Klaus Pontoppidan (NASA-JPL), Joel Green (STScI); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) on NASA\u2019s James Webb Space Telescope captured the actively forming protostar EC 53 (circled at left) in the Serpens Nebula in this image released on Jan. 21, 2026.<\/p>\n<p>Astronomers have long sought evidence to explain why&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/solar-system\/comets\/\" rel=\"noopener\">comets<\/a>&nbsp;at the outskirts of our own&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/mission\/webb\/science-overview\/science-explainers\/exploring-our-solar-system-with-webb\/\" rel=\"noopener\">solar system<\/a>&nbsp;contain crystalline silicates, since crystals require intense heat to form and these \u201cdirty snowballs\u201d spend most of their time in the ultracold&nbsp;Kuiper Belt&nbsp;and&nbsp;Oort Cloud. Now, looking outside our solar system, Webb has returned the first conclusive evidence that links how those conditions are possible.<\/p>\n<p>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 outflow that is capable of carrying the crystals to the outer edges of this disk. Compared to our own fully formed, mostly dust-cleared solar system, the crystals would be forming approximately between the Sun and Earth.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/missions\/webb\/nasa-webb-finds-young-sun-like-star-forging-spewing-common-crystals\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Read more about this discovery.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Klaus Pontoppidan (NASA-JPL), Joel Green (STScI); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) on NASA\u2019s James Webb Space Telescope captured the actively forming protostar EC 53 (circled at left) in the Serpens Nebula in this image released on Jan. 21, 2026. Astronomers have long sought evidence to explain why\u00a0comets\u00a0at the outskirts of our own\u00a0solar system\u00a0contain crystalline silicates, since crystals require intense heat to form [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15760],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-356712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-protostars"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=356712"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356712\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":356758,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356712\/revisions\/356758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=356712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=356712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=356712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}