ESA Webb Telescope
@ESA_Webb
Nov 4
🛎️ It's quiz time! In the early history of our Solar System, a Mars-sized object struck the Earth, blasting vapourised rock into space. Recently, Webb examined the aftermaths of similar upheavals (‘extreme debris discs’) around other stars.
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ESA Webb Telescope
@ESA_Webb
Nov 4
Replying to @ESA_Webb
2/ But what was that Mars-sized object that struck Earth called?
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ESA Webb Telescope
@ESA_Webb
Nov 5
Replying to @ESA_Webb
3. The correct answer is b) Theia. The material from its collision with Earth later coalesced into the Moon! 🌙

Read more: esawebb.org/news/weic2618/

Artist's impression: @NASA , @esa , @csa_asc , J. Olmsted (STScI)
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ESA Webb Telescope
@ESA_Webb
Nov 4
Staring deep 👁️👁️ into a nearby nebula

@HUBBLE_space and Webb have teamed up to capture complementary views of a star-forming region known as the Cat’s Head Nebula 🐱 1/2
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ESA Webb Telescope
@ESA_Webb
Nov 4
Replying to @ESA_Webb
It is seen here from the perspective of Webb’s #MIRI (first), Hubble’s WFC3 (second), and Webb’s #NIRCam (third).

Read more here: esahubble.org/images/heic261…

📷 @NASA, @esa, @csa_asc, STScI, J. Depasquale (STScI), ESO, Digitized Sky Survey 2, N. Bartmann (ESA/Hubble), J. Emerson, M. Irwin, J. Lewis, E. Slawik, N. Risinger, D. De Martin
🎶 Tonelabs – The Red North (tonelabs.com) 2/2
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ESA Webb Telescope
@ESA_Webb
Nov 3
In the 2026 ESA/Hubble and ESA/Webb calendar, the month of November features the planetary nebula NGC 6072 in the near-infrared. This shows outflows expanding at different angles from the dying star at the centre of the scene ☠️⭐

Ready to print .pdf here: ow.ly/OuW85102lHt

📷 @NASA , @esa , @csa_asc , STScI
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ESA Webb Telescope
@ESA_Webb
Nov 2
pspspspspsps

Calling the Cats Head Nebula 🐈‍⬛ with Hubble and Webb!

And check out more .gifs at our giphy page: ow.ly/z62r5102lCx
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ESA Webb Telescope
@ESA_Webb
Oct 30
Add some cosmic sparkle to your 9-5 with our virtual meeting backgrounds! ✨💻

Find them here: ow.ly/6fYp5102lvh

#WebbSeesFarther

📷 @NASA , @esa , @csa_asc , and STScI.
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ESA Webb Telescope
@ESA_Webb
Oct 29
🆕 Just in time for Halloween, a ghostly nebula lurks within sight of @HUBBLE_space and the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope

This is the Cat’s Head Nebula 🐱 a star-forming region located approximately 7,500 light-years from Earth. It is named for its resemblance to a cat owards Earth, its ‘head’ turned to the side. 1/4
A collage of three images of the Cat’s Head Nebula. On the right is a Hubble visible-light image. A dark brown, opaque filament of dust is in the center, stretching from the bottom to almost the very top. It has a narrow, irregular shape that resembles a cat sitting with its back toward the viewer and a tail extending downward. In the centre is Webb’s NIRCam view where bright red spot marks the eye. The top half of the background is bright blue. Approximately halfway down, cutting diagonally across the frame, the background colour changes from blue to yellow, orange, and finally red near the bottom. On the right is Webb’s MIRI view. A bluish-gray filament of dust is in the center, stretching from the bottom to almost the very top. It has a narrow, irregular shape that resembles a cat sitting with its back toward the viewer and a tail extending downward.
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ESA Webb Telescope
@ESA_Webb
Oct 29
Replying to @ESA_Webb
Webb’s near-infrared view, from its #NIRCam instrument, reveals a dense scattering of stars that appear blue and yellow. Even in infrared light, some stars are still enshrouded in dust to various degrees! 3/4
Near-infrared image of the Cat’s Head Nebula by the James Webb Space Telescope. An orange-brown filament of dust is in the center, stretching from the bottom to almost the very top. It has a narrow, irregular shape that resembles a cat sitting with its back toward the viewer and a tail extending downward. The tail ends at the lower one-third of the image and widens to a squarish dust cloud. The cat’s head is turned toward the right, revealing a yellow glowing eye. The background is mostly blue, with the top right corner revealing the black background of space. On the cat’s left are ghostly filaments of dust. Scattered throughout the view are many yellow and blue stars, some with Webb’s signature eight-point diffraction spikes, and a few faint background galaxies.
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ESA Webb Telescope
@ESA_Webb
Oct 29
Replying to @ESA_Webb
In its mid-infrared view from #MIRI however, emission from warm dust and carbon-based molecules outlines intricate structures within the nebula. The blues and greens highlight emission that includes PAHs, carbon-based molecules excited by starlight.

Read more: esawebb.org/news/weic2622/

📷 @NASA , @ESA , STScI. Image Processing: J. Depasquale (STScI).4/4
Mid-infrared image of the Cat’s Head Nebula by the James Webb Space Telescope. A bluish-gray filament of dust is in the center, stretching from the bottom to almost the very top. It has a narrow, irregular shape that resembles a cat sitting with its back toward the viewer and a tail extending downward. The tail ends at the lower one-third of the image and widens to a triangular peak of dust. The cat’s head is turned toward the right, revealing a white glowing eye. The background is mostly red, with the top left and right corners revealing the black background of space. On the cat’s left is a dome-shaped grouping of faint filaments of dust. Scattered throughout the view are yellow and blue stars, some with Webb’s signature eight-point diffraction spikes.
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ESA Webb Telescope
@ESA_Webb
Oct 28
🛎️ It's quiz time! This glittering image features the nearby star-forming region IC 348, which is located just 1000 light-years from Earth.
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ESA Webb Telescope
@ESA_Webb
Oct 28
Replying to @ESA_Webb
2/ In which constellation is it found?
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ESA Webb Telescope
@ESA_Webb
Oct 29
Replying to @ESA_Webb
3. The correct answer is a) Perseus. In regions like IC 348, clouds of molecular hydrogen gas collapse to form new stars, creating glowing scenes like this one.

Read more: esawebb.org/news/weic2619/

📷 @esa / @ESA_Webb , @NASA & @csa_asc , K. Luhman, C. Alves De Oliveira, M. Zamani (ESA/Webb)
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ESA Webb Telescope
@ESA_Webb
Oct 28
A visit to a starry cauldron in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) 🧙‍♀️

161,000 light-years away, in one of the satellite galaxies orbiting the Milky Way, is the star-forming region N159. 1/3
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ESA Webb Telescope
@ESA_Webb
Oct 28
Replying to @ESA_Webb
N159 is filled with ionised hydrogen gas ☁️ which is being lit up and sculpted by hot young stars.

The brilliant emission and sculptural shapes of its clouds of hydrogen gas are captured in this image from the #NIRCam mounted on Webb. 2/3
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ESA Webb Telescope
@ESA_Webb
Oct 28
Replying to @ESA_Webb
#WebbSeesFarther

📷 @esa / @ESA_Webb , @NASA & @csa_asc, NOIRLab, NSF, AURA, ESO, CTIO, SMASH, N. Bartmann, E. Sabbi, D. Nidever, E. Slawik, N. Risinger, N. T. Rector, D. de Martin, M. Zamani
🎶 Tonelabs – The Red North ( .com) 3/3
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ESA Webb Telescope
@ESA_Webb
Oct 27
#SpaceSparks 32: Stars brewing in a nebulous cauldron!

This episode takes a trip to N159, a H II region where astronomers are studying stars at different stages of evolution ⭐
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ESA Webb Telescope
@ESA_Webb
Oct 26
Into a nebulous cauldron in the Large Magellanic Cloud! ⭐🔮

And check out more .gifs at our giphy page: ow.ly/xagg5100nY7
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