{"id":383923,"date":"2026-03-10T01:09:37","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T15:09:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?guid=ef18aab037f031aa16a9b0f67c92b548"},"modified":"2026-03-10T01:09:37","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T15:09:37","slug":"webb-studies-cranium-nebula","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=383923","title":{"rendered":"Webb Studies Cranium Nebula"},"content":{"rendered":"
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NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Nebula PMR 1 is a cloud of gas and dust that bears an uncanny resemblance to a brain in a transparent skull, inspiring its nickname, the \u201cExposed Cranium\u201d nebula. Webb captured its unusual features in both near- and mid-infrared light. The nebula was first revealed<\/a> in infrared light by a predecessor to Webb, NASA\u2019s now-retired Spitzer Space Telescope, more than a decade ago. Webb\u2019s advanced instruments show detail that enhances the nebula\u2019s brain-like appearance. This image, released on Feb. 25, 2026, is in near-infrared light.<\/p>\n

The nebula appears to have distinct regions that capture different phases of its evolution \u2014 an outer shell of gas that was blown off first and consists mostly of hydrogen, and an inner cloud with more structure that contains a mix of different gases. Both Webb\u2019s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) and MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) show a distinctive dark lane running vertically through the middle of the nebula that defines its brain-like look of left and right hemispheres. Webb\u2019s resolution shows that this lane could be related to an outburst or outflow from the central star, which typically occurs as twin jets burst out in opposite directions. <\/p>\n

Read more about the Exposed Cranium nebula and see another view of it from Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Range Instrument).<\/a><\/p>\n

Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nebula PMR 1 is a cloud of gas and dust that bears an uncanny resemblance to a brain in a transparent skull, inspiring its nickname, the \u201cExposed Cranium\u201d nebula. Webb captured its unusual features in both near- and mid-infrared light. The nebula was\u00a0first revealed\u00a0in infrared light by a predecessor to Webb, NASA\u2019s now-retired Spitzer Space [\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":[15616],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-383923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nebulae"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383923","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=383923"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383923\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":383924,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383923\/revisions\/383924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=383923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=383923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=383923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}