![\"Circular-shaped](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/full_width\/public\/thumbnails\/image\/stsci-01gwqc3f2ezceyfbws69bvdwpm.png?itok=QluRy7j1\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nDissecting the Image<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The striking colors of the new Cas A image, in which infrared light is translated into visible-light wavelengths, hold a wealth of scientific information the team is just beginning to tease out. On the bubble\u2019s exterior, particularly at the top and left, lie curtains of material appearing orange and red due to emission from warm dust. This marks where ejected material from the exploded star is ramming into surrounding circumstellar gas and dust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Interior to this outer shell lie mottled filaments of bright pink studded with clumps and knots. This represents material from the star itself, which is shining due to a mix of various heavy elements, such as oxygen, argon, and neon, as well as dust emission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re still trying to disentangle all these sources of emission,\u201d said Ilse De Looze of Ghent University in Belgium, another co-investigator on the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The stellar material can also be seen as fainter wisps near the cavity\u2019s interior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perhaps most prominently, a loop represented in green extends across the right side of the central cavity. \u201cWe\u2019ve nicknamed it the Green Monster in honor of Fenway Park in Boston. If you look closely, you\u2019ll notice that it\u2019s pockmarked with what look like mini-bubbles,\u201d said Milisavljevic. \u201cThe shape and complexity are unexpected and challenging to understand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Origins of Cosmic Dust \u2013 and Us<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Among the science questions that Cas A may help answer is: Where does cosmic dust come from? Observations have found that even very young galaxies in the early universe are suffused with massive quantities of dust. It\u2019s difficult to explain the origins of this dust without invoking supernovae, which spew large quantities of heavy elements (the building blocks of dust) across space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, existing observations of supernovae have been unable to conclusively explain the amount of dust we see in those early galaxies. By studying Cas A with Webb, astronomers hope to gain a better understanding of its dust content, which can help inform our understanding of where the building blocks of planets and ourselves are created.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn Cas A, we can spatially resolve regions that have different gas compositions and look at what types of dust were formed in those regions,\u201d explained Temim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Supernovae like the one that formed Cas A are crucial for life as we know it. They spread elements like the calcium we find in our bones and the iron in our blood across interstellar space, seeding new generations of stars and planets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBy understanding the process of exploding stars, we\u2019re reading our own origin story,\u201d said Milisavljevic. \u201cI\u2019m going to spend the rest of my career trying to understand what\u2019s in this data set.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Cas A remnant spans about 10 light-years and is located 11,000 light-years away in the constellation Cassiopeia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We recommend you: Hubble Sees Possible Runaway Black Hole Creating a Trail of Stars<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n