Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2023 July 13 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. Webb's Rho Ophiuchi Image Credit: [3]NASA, [4]ESA, [5]CSA, [6]STScI, Klaus Pontoppidan (STScI), Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI) Explanation: [7]A mere 390 light-years away, Sun-like stars and future planetary systems are forming in the Rho Ophiuchi molecular cloud complex, the closest star-forming region to our fair planet. The James Webb Space Telescope's NIRCam peered into the nearby natal chaos to capture this infrared image at [8]an inspiring scale. The spectacular cosmic snapshot was released to celebrate the successful first year of [9]Webb's exploration of the Universe. [10]The frame spans less than a light-year across the Rho Ophiuchi region and contains about 50 young stars. Brighter stars clearly sport Webb's characteristic pattern of [11]diffraction spikes. Huge jets of shocked molecular hydrogen [12]blasting from newborn stars are red in the image, with the large, yellowish dusty cavity carved out by the energetic young star near its center. Near some stars in the stunning image are shadows cast by their [13]protoplanetary disks. Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space __________________________________________________________________ [14]< | [15]Archive | [16]Submissions | [17]Index | [18]Search | [19]Calendar | [20]RSS | [21]Education | [22]About APOD | [23]Discuss | [24]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [25]Robert Nemiroff ([26]MTU) & [27]Jerry Bonnell ([28]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [29]Specific rights apply. [30]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [31]ASD at [32]NASA / [33]GSFC & [34]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2307/STScI-01_RhoOph.png 3. https://www.nasa.gov/ 4. https://www.esa.int/ 5. https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/ 6. https://www.stsci.edu/ 7. https://webbtelescope.org/contents/news-releases/2023/news-2023-128 8. https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/videos/2023/128/01H4YM4EH20F6ZX6M7EWDE9RSN 9. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/webb/main/index.html 10. https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/images/2023/128/01H44AZN1CQVQBKPPJPHR6M3Z8 11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220319.html 12. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1996A&A...314..477B/abstract 13. https://universe.nasa.gov/resources/160/protoplanetary-disk/ 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230712.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 18. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 23. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=230713 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230714.html 25. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 26. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 27. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 28. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 30. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 31. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 32. https://www.nasa.gov/ 33. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 34. http://www.mtu.edu/