See Breathtaking Images of Milky Way’s ‘Largest Star-Forming Cloud’ | Image:
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The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has once again amazed scientists and space lovers alike by capturing stunning new images of Sagittarius B2, the largest and most active star-forming region in the Milky Way galaxy.
Located just 390 light-years away from the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A at the center of our galaxy, Sagittarius B2 is a giant cloud of molecular gas about 150 light-years wide. It contains enough raw material to create 3 million stars the size of our Sun.
Despite making up only 10% of the gas near the Milky Way’s core, Sagittarius B2 is responsible for producing half of all new stars in the region a cosmic mystery that scientists are now trying to solve.
Why Sagittarius B2 Has Scientists So Curious?
The new images, taken in two different infrared wavelengths, reveal incredible details about this stellar nursery. Scientists are using these images to understand why star formation in B2 is so intense, while most of the galactic center remains relatively quiet.
“This is a huge leap forward in understanding the birth of massive stars in the heart of our galaxy,” said Adam Ginsburg, co-author of the study and a researcher at the University of Florida. “Webb’s powerful instruments show us details we’ve never seen before.”
One theory is that strong magnetic fields around the galactic center may influence star formation — but how exactly this works is still unclear.
How JWST Sees Through the Dust?
The James Webb Telescope used two powerful instruments to study B2:
NIRCam (Near Infrared Camera): Captured shorter infrared wavelengths, revealing thousands of young stars and glowing clouds of gas.
MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument): Peered through even denser cosmic dust, exposing hidden star-forming regions lit up by massive baby stars.
While NIRCam shows sparkling stars within hazy clouds, MIRI dives deeper, revealing the hidden light of newborn stars still forming inside thick dust clouds.
Sagittarius B2 Beyond the Milky Way
Understanding Sagittarius B2 could help scientists unlock secrets of the early universe. Conditions in B2 are believed to resemble those shortly after the Big Bang, when the first stars began forming in a burst of activity.
By studying what triggers or stops star formation in our own galaxy, researchers hope to learn more about how galaxies and even life evolved across the universe.
Astronomers are now studying the history of star formation in B2 to find out whether it’s been active for millions of years or is experiencing a recent burst.