Stars burn with fusion, which propels energy outward from their cores. Embedded within gas from the star are the materials for new stars & planets: /vzzaWrzPBA- NASA Webb Telescope December 11, 2023 In near-infrared light, supernova remnant Cassiopeia A (Cas A) resembles a shiny ornament. This stunning new Webb image is a gift from a past star. “It’s really unbelievable after all these years studying Cas A to now resolve those details, which are providing us with transformational insight into how this star exploded.” “With NIRCam’s resolution, we can now see how the dying star absolutely shattered when it exploded, leaving filaments akin to tiny shards of glass behind,” Danny Milisavljevic, an astronomer at Purdue University who led the research, says in a statement from NASA. Now, the newly released snapshot shows Cas A’s colorful, orb-like wisps captured using Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam). In April of this year, Webb imaged the stellar remains in mid-infrared light.

The remnants, called Cassiopeia A (or Cas A for short), lie 11,000 light-years from Earth, in the constellation Cassiopeia. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has seen the remains of a supernova explosion in a new light.

Instal the new Supernova Shards