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Orion Bar

Part of the Orion Nebula, as seen by NIRCam.
Part of the Orion Nebula, as seen by NIRCam. Image: ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, M. Zamani (ESA/Webb), PDRs4ALL ERS Team

This image shows a swath of the Orion Nebula about 1,350 light-years from Earth. The gassy area contains a carbon-based molecule that researchers believe might be a core component of interstellar organic chemistry.

Think about that. From its loft at L2, the Webb telescope can not only image glorious regions of stars and gas in the universe, but can pick out molecules within that gas.

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