# @nasa on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/C2cqAoTut80
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/10789396-nasa-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/ce75d47645.jpg
- **Posted:** 2024-01-23T15:26:35.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** NASA (@NASA) — https://gondola.cc/NASA

## Caption

It’s always darkest before the dawn.⁣
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This image from our James Webb Space Telescope shows N79, a massive star-forming region within the Large Magellanic Cloud (a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way). At mid-infrared wavelengths, Webb reveals glowing gas and dust deep within the clouds, as well as embedded baby stars.⁣
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N79 produces stars at a furious rate, much faster than star-forming regions found in our own galaxy. In fact, N79’s chemical composition is similar to those from the early universe, when star formation was at its peak.⁣
Here, those vivid rays resembling sunlight are actually diffraction spikes for a bright star. Most noticeable for bright, compact objects, diffraction spikes are somewhat like a telescope’s “signature.” The eight-point pattern is the result of the telescope’s hexagonal mirror design, combined with its secondary mirror struts. Meanwhile, our Hubble Space Telescope produces a four-pointed diffraction spike pattern due to its circular mirror.⁣
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Learn more at NASAWebb’s link in bio!⁣
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Image description: A bright young star, located in the upper left quadrant, shines through layers of wispy white and blue clouds on a dark background. The star is surrounded by thick orange spikes in an eight-pointed pattern, overlaid across the majority of the frame. A patch of greenish-yellow clouds appears in the top right area of the image. There are a couple other bright spots seen as glowing yellow dots among the clouds, as well as another bright star with smaller blue diffraction spikes in the bottom right corner.⁣
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Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, O. Nayak, M. Meixner⁣
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#NASA #NASAWebb #JWST #Space #Astronomy #Astrophotography #Stars #Universe #Telescope

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## Tags

nasawebb, nasa, astrophotography, universe, space, telescope, stars, jwst, astronomy

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