Astro Brief: Milky Way Outskirts

By Dr. Mike Reed

Published October 10, 2024 at 9:45 AM CDT

Scientists used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to examine select star-forming areas in the Extreme Outer Galaxy in near- and mid-infrared light. Within this star-forming region, known as Digel Cloud 2S, the telescope observed young, newly formed stars and their extended jets of material. This Webb image also shows a dense sea of background galaxies and red nebulous structures within the region. In this image, colors were assigned to different filters from Webb’s MIRI and NIRCam: red (F1280W, F770W, F444W), green (F356W, F200W), and blue (F150W; F115W).

JWST observes outer Milky Way galaxy to study star formation process.

Just last month, the James Webb Space Telescope peered into the outer reaches of our galaxy. The region is known as the Extreme Outer Galaxy and contains gaseous nebulas with newly formed stars.

Join us this week as Mike dives into galaxies, star formation, and recent JWST observations.

Astro Brief is a collaboration between KSMU, the Missouri Space Grant, and MSU's Department of Physics, Astronomy and Materials Science. Hosted by Dr. Mike Reed, Astro Brief focuses on astronomical events, the field of astronomy, and astronomy-related guests. It airs Thursdays at 9:45 am on KSMU.