Shit Man This Got Me Emotional

Brothers Betelgeuse and Rigel

Orion, The Great Hunter

Gamma Cas & Ghost Nebula © Antoine Grelin

L1527 IRS - Protostar

Stars form when bodies of dust and gas create enough mass to create a gravitational effect that's able to then pull in more gas, the process continues and the mass increases until the pressure at the centre is sufficient for fusion to begin.

There's many examples of protostars, in fact back in 2012,  NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope focused in on L1527 IRS, believed at the time to be the youngest forming star ever found.

Recently, the JWST re-visited this protostar, and the title image was the result.

The forming star cannot be visually spotted, but is thought to be around 20-40% the mass of our own Sun already.

If you look closely, you can see there's a dark patch in the centre, this is actually the accretion disk around the newly formed star, what is left over after the formation, may go on to form the planets, in fact, they may be actually starting to be created already, as recent evidence does point to planets being born around the same time as the star does in many cases.

The protostar is only 450 light years from Earth in the Constellation of Taurus, and is thought to be around 100,000 years old, a blink of an eye in the life of a star, particularly of this mass.

The Moon

The most ridiculously detailed" image of Earth’s lunar neighbor was a two-year project captured by two astrophotographers.

The 174-megapixel image, which shows the moon’s colors, craters and glowing aura in stunning detail, was first revealed on Reddit on Saturday. Through Reddit and Instagram, Andrew McCarthy, known for his breathtaking astrophotography skills, teamed up with planetary scientist and fellow photographer Connor Matherne, who has been acclaimed for his striking and vibrant photos of galaxies and nebulae.

The two previously worked together to create an incredible glowing and detailed image of the moon.

Spiral Galaxies from Webb & Hubble: NGC 1566 4303 3351

WR 25 & Tr16-244 in Carina Nebula © Hubble

Perseverance: Drifting clouds just before sunrise on Mars (March 18, 2023)

Messier 45: The Pleiades

Nick Fritz on Instagram