James Webb Space Telescope takes snaps of Orion Nebula with stunning new details

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Researchers from the PDRs4All programme published a new study this week on the Orion nebula 

James Webb Space Telescope, which is the largest and most powerful telescope ever launched into space, has shared an image of the Orion Nebula with stunning new details. 

The Orion Nebula is also known as "Messier 42" (M42). It is located around 1,500 light years from Earth toward the constellation of Orion. 

The Orion Nebula is visible to the naked eye under dark skies. Experts have studied it for ages. But now, James Webb's images produce unprecedented details. 

Researchers from the PDRs4All programme published a new study this week on the Orion nebula, a well-studied region of space thought to be a hotbed for new star formation. 

The programme included researchers from numerous universities, including Western University in the United States. 

In a press release, Western University said that the new images honed in on a specific part of the nebula known as the "Orion Bar", a "sharp, diagonal, ridge-like feature of gas and dust". 

In a statement, Western University astrophysicist and PDRs4All principle investigator Els Peeters said: "These images have such incredible detail that we will be scrutinising them for many years to come. The data are incredible and will serve as benchmarks for astrophysics research for decades to come." 

"So far, we have explored only a tiny fraction of the data, and this has already resulted in several surprising and major discoveries," the statement added. 

Peeters said that the new images "have such an incredible detail that we will be scrutinising them for many years to come". 

With the images, the JWST helped the researchers not only examine the Orion Bar's structure for the first time but also to identify how its chemical composition fluctuates throughout it. 

(With inputs from agencies)