NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope released an infrared portrait on showing thousands of newly formed stars clustered in Pismis 24, embedded in the vast Lobster Nebula about 5,500 light-years from Earth.
Key Takeaways
- The image, released Sept. 5, 2025, centers on the young star cluster Pismis 24 within the Lobster Nebula.
- The scene spans a region roughly 5,500 light-years away; one light-year equals about 5.8 trillion miles.
- Webb observed this field in the infrared, integrating more than five hours of exposure for the final shot.
- The photograph reveals stars of varied sizes and colors and a massive dust-and-gas cloud that extends beyond the frame.
- Webb, launched in 2021, remains the most powerful space telescope for infrared astronomy.
Verified Facts
The image focuses on Pismis 24, a cluster of infant stars tucked deep inside what astronomers call the Lobster Nebula. The nebula’s dense clouds of gas and dust are active star-forming regions; Webb’s infrared instruments penetrate those clouds to reveal the newborn stellar population.
Observers report the feature lies about 5,500 light-years from Earth. For scale, one light-year is roughly 5.8 trillion miles, a conversion commonly used to convey cosmic distances.
Webb captured the scene using its infrared cameras. According to the release, the telescope spent more than five hours collecting the exposures that were combined to form this detailed view of star formation and the surrounding nebulosity.
Colors in the image correspond to emission from heated dust, gas and young stars of different masses. The brightest points are candidate young stars; fainter specks and diffuse glow trace the complex structure of the cloud.
Context & Impact
High-resolution infrared images like this help astronomers study how stars form in dense, obscured regions. By resolving individual sources within clusters such as Pismis 24, researchers can better estimate stellar masses, examine early evolutionary stages and map how nearby gas is being reshaped by stellar radiation and winds.
The image also demonstrates Webb’s capacity to reveal structure that optical telescopes cannot easily see because of dust extinction. Follow-up observations across other wavelengths and with spectrographs will be needed to determine precise ages, masses and chemical properties of the stars.
- Immediate science use: cataloging young stellar objects in Pismis 24 for further study.
- Broader value: improving models of clustered star formation and feedback on parent clouds.
Official Statements
“This Webb image highlights a bustling stellar nursery and the telescope’s strength in piercing dusty regions to show star birth,” NASA said in its image release.
NASA
Unconfirmed
- Individual ages and masses of the stars in the image are not determined from the single composite image alone; those require follow-up spectroscopy and analysis.
Bottom Line
Webb’s new image of Pismis 24 inside the Lobster Nebula provides a striking infrared view of a nearby stellar nursery and will serve as a starting point for detailed studies of how clusters form and evolve. Researchers will combine this dataset with future observations to refine measurements of the cluster’s members and the cloud that birthed them.