NGC 602: Stars Versus Pillars from Webb

NGC 602: Stars Versus Pillars from Webb

Credit:
ESA/Webb,
NASA &
CSA,
P. Zeidler,
E. Sabbi,
A. Nota,
M. Zamani
(ESA/Webb)

Explanation:
The stars are destroying the pillars.

More specifically, some of the newly formed
stars in the image center are emitting light so energetic that is
evaporating
the gas and dust in the surrounding
pillars.

Simultaneously, the
pillars themselves are still trying to
form new stars.

The whole setting is the star cluster
NGC 602,
and this new vista was taken by the
Webb Space Telescope in multiple
infrared colors.

In comparison, a roll-over image shows the same star cluster in
visible light, taken previously by the
Hubble Space Telescope.

NGC 602 is located near the perimeter of the
Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC),
a small satellite galaxy of our Milky Way galaxy.

At the estimated distance of the SMC, the
featured picture spans about 200 light-years.

A tantalizing assortment of
background galaxies are also visible — mostly around the edges — that are at least hundreds of millions of
light-years beyond.