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A landscape of star formation

By A sky worth slowing for · myAudience

Authentic 2022 Webb NIRCam and MIRI processed infrared composite of the Cosmic Cliffs in the Carina Nebula; colors represent infrared measurements

NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI · NASA informational/editorial media usage guidelines; no endorsement implied

Webb’s 2022 Cosmic Cliffs image combines NIRCam and MIRI infrared observations of a star-forming region in the Carina Nebula. The cliff-like boundary is gas and dust, not a mountain ridge on a planet. Assigned colors help make infrared measurements visible. This is authentic processed telescope imagery, not a generated landscape; interpreting it begins with the instruments and wavelengths, rather than the shapes our eyes recognize.

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