(ESA/Webb/NASA/CSA/Villenave via SWNS)
By Dean Murray
Astronomers have captured a cosmic butterfly.
New images from the James Webb Space Telescope show a jaw-dropping view of a planet-forming disc, nicknamed the “Butterfly Star,” appearing to have wings.
The European Space Agency (ESA) has hailed the pictures as a “fantastic new view” of IRAS 04302+2247, located about 525 light-years away in a dark cloud within the Taurus star-forming region.
They said: “With Webb, researchers can study the properties and growth of dust grains within protoplanetary discs like this one, shedding light on the earliest stages of planet formation.”
(ESA/Webb/NASA/CSA/Villenave via SWNS)
Observations of distant protoplanetary discs can help researchers understand what took place roughly 4.5 billion years ago in our own solar system, when the Sun, Earth, and the other planets formed.
ESA said: “IRAS 04302+2247, or IRAS 04302 for short, is a beautiful example of a protostar – a young star that is still gathering mass from its environment – surrounded by a protoplanetary disc in which baby planets might be forming.
“Given the appearance of the two reflection nebulas, IRAS 04302 has been nicknamed the ‘Butterfly Star.’”