This composite of images of the Flame Nebula features a near-infrared image from the Hubble Space Telescope on the left, and infrared images from the James Webb Space Telescope in the insets. (Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Michael Meyer (University of Michigan), Matthew De Furio (University of Texas at Austin), Massimo Robberto (STScI), Alyssa Pagan (STScI))
What is it: The star-forming region Flame Nebula (NGC 2024)
Location: 1,400 light years away from us, in the constellation Orion.
When published: March 10, 2025
Why it's special: What are the smallest stars? A deep study of the star-forming Flame Nebula using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has revealed free-floating Jupiter-sized objects that could help answer this important astronomy question.
The free-floating objects are brown dwarfs, which are on the border between stars and planets. They are often called “failed stars” because they do not reach the density and temperature needed to become stars, and eventually cool down, becoming dim and hard to see objects.
However, how small a brown dwarf might be remains an open question, largely because such objects are difficult to study with standard telescopes. However, JWST is sensitive to infrared light, which it detects as heat. The telescope began searching for relatively warm and bright young brown dwarfs in the Flame Nebula, where its infrared detectors were able to penetrate thick layers of dust and gas.
Uncropped view of the image.
It has found free-floating objects with masses two to three times that of Jupiter, although the telescope can also detect objects with masses only half that of the gas giant, smaller than scientists had expected.
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has been searching for brown dwarfs for decades. Hubble previously identified possible candidates in a region of the Flame Nebula known as the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex. Now, the JWST has taken up the mantle and made what researchers call a “quantum leap” in understanding brown dwarfs.
“It is very challenging to make such observations of brown dwarfs, which have masses up to ten times that of Jupiter, from Earth, especially in such regions,” Matthew De Furio said in a statement.
Sourse: www.livescience.com
