NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope captured NGC 346 earlier this year, but when seen through its Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), it shows why the companion galaxy is the brightest and largest star-forming region in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). This open star cluster is located around 210,000 light-years away in the Tucana constellation.
This new MIRI image shows that NGC 346 has ample dust formed from heavy elements like silicon and oxygen, while the blue tendrils trace emission from material that includes dusty silicates as well as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Warm dust heated by the brightest and most massive stars in the heart of the region cause the reddish color.
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By combining Webb data in both the near-infrared and mid-infrared, astronomers are able to take a fuller census of the stars and protostars within this dynamic region. The results have implications for our understanding of galaxies that existed billions of years ago, during an era in the universe known as ‘cosmic noon,’ when star formation was at its peak and heavy element concentrations were lower, as seen in the SMC,” said Laura Betz, NASA Goddard Communications Team Lead.
