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Explore This Section Webb News Latest News Latest Images Blog (offsite) Awards X (offsite – login reqd) Instagram (offsite – login reqd) Facebook (offsite- login reqd) Youtube (offsite) Overview About Who is James Webb? Fact Sheet Impacts+Benefits FAQ Science Overview and Goals Early Universe Galaxies Over Time Star Lifecycle Other Worlds Observatory Overview Launch Orbit Mirrors Sunshield Instrument: NIRCam Instrument: MIRI Instrument: NIRSpec Instrument: FGS/NIRISS Optical Telescope Element Backplane Spacecraft Bus Instrument Module Multimedia About Webb Images Images Videos What is Webb Observing? 3d Webb in 3d Solar System Podcasts Webb Image Sonifications Team International Team People Of Webb More For the Media For Scientists For Educators For Fun/Learning 6 Min Read NASA’s Webb Peers Deeper into Mysterious Flame Nebula
This collage of images from the Flame Nebula shows a near-infrared light view from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope on the left, while the two insets at the right show the near-infrared view taken by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Credits:
NASA, ESA, CSA, M. Meyer (University of Michigan), A. Pagan (STScI) The Flame Nebula, located about 1,400 light-years away from Earth, is a hotbed of star formation less than 1 million years old. Within the Flame Nebula, there are objects so small that their cores will never be able to fuse hydrogen like full-fledged stars—brown dwarfs.
Brown dwarfs, often called “failed stars,” over time become very dim and much cooler than stars. These factors make observing brown dwarfs with most telescopes difficult, if not impossible, even at cosmically short distances from the Sun. When they are very young, however, they are still relatively warmer and brighter and therefore easier to observe despite the obscuring, dense dust and gas that comprises the Flame Nebula in this case.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope can pierce this dense, dusty region and see the faint infrared glow from young brown dwarfs. A team of astronomers used this capability to explore the lowest mass limit of brown dwarfs within the Flame Nebula. The result, they found, were free-floating objects roughly two to three times the mass of Jupiter, although they were sensitive down to 0.5 times the mass of Jupiter.
“The goal of this project was to explore the fundamental low-mass limit of the star and brown dwarf formation process. With Webb, we’re able to probe the faintest and lowest mass objects,” said lead study author Matthew De Furio of the University of Texas at Austin.
Image A: Flame Nebula: Hubble and Webb Observations
This collage of images from the Flame Nebula shows a near-infrared light view from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope on the left, while the two insets at the right show the near-infrared view taken by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Much of the dark, dense gas and dust, as well as the surrounding white clouds within the Hubble image, have been cleared in the Webb images, giving us a view into a more translucent cloud pierced by the infrared-producing objects within that are young stars and brown dwarfs. Astronomers used Webb to take a census of the lowest-mass objects within this star-forming region.
The Hubble image on the left represents light at wavelengths of 1.05 microns (filter F105W) as blue, 1.3 microns (F130N) as green, and 1.39 microns (F129M) as red. The two Webb images on the right represent light at wavelengths of 1.15 microns and 1.4 microns (filters F115W and F140M) as blue, 1.82 microns (F182M) as green, 3.6 microns (F360M) as orange, and 4.3 microns (F430M) as red. NASA, ESA, CSA, M. Meyer (University of Michigan), A. Pagan (STScI) Smaller Fragments
The low-mass limit the team sought is set by a process called fragmentation. In this process large molecular clouds, from which both stars and brown dwarfs are born, break apart into smaller and smaller units, or fragments.
Fragmentation is highly dependent on several factors with the balance between temperature, thermal pressure, and gravity being among the most important. More specifically, as fragments contract under the force of gravity, their cores heat up. If a core is massive enough, it will begin to fuse hydrogen. The outward pressure created by that fusion counteracts gravity, stopping collapse and stabilizing the object (then known as a star). However, fragments whose cores are not compact and hot enough to burn hydrogen continue to contract as long as they radiate away their internal heat.
“The cooling of these clouds is important because if you have enough internal energy, it will fight that gravity,” says Michael Meyer of the University of Michigan. “If the clouds cool efficiently, they collapse and break apart.”
Fragmentation stops when a fragment becomes opaque enough to reabsorb its own radiation, thereby stopping the cooling and preventing further collapse. Theories placed the lower limit of these fragments anywhere between one and ten Jupiter masses. This study significantly shrinks that range as Webb’s census counted up fragments of different masses within the nebula.
“As found in many previous studies, as you go to lower masses, you actually get more objects up to about ten times the mass of Jupiter. In our study with the James Webb Space Telescope, we are sensitive down to 0.5 times the mass of Jupiter, and we are finding significantly fewer and fewer things as you go below ten times the mass of Jupiter,” De Furio explained. “We find fewer five-Jupiter-mass objects than ten-Jupiter-mass objects, and we find way fewer three-Jupiter-mass objects than five-Jupiter-mass objects. We don’t really find any objects below two or three Jupiter masses, and we expect to see them if they are there, so we are hypothesizing that this could be the limit itself.”
Meyer added, “Webb, for the first time, has been able to probe up to and beyond that limit. If that limit is real, there really shouldn’t be any one-Jupiter-mass objects free-floating out in our Milky Way galaxy, unless they were formed as planets and then ejected out of a planetary system.”
Image B: Low Mass Objects within the Flame Nebula in Infrared Light
This near-infrared image of a portion of the Flame Nebula from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope highlights three low-mass objects, seen in the insets to the right. These objects, which are much colder than protostars, require the sensitivity of Webb’s instruments to detect them. These objects were studied as part of an effort to explore the lowest mass limit of brown dwarfs within the Flame Nebula.
The Webb images represent light at wavelengths of 1.15 microns and 1.4 microns (filters F115W and F140M) as blue, 1.82 microns (F182M) as green, 3.6 microns (F360M) as orange, and 4.3 microns (F430M) as red. NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, M. Meyer (University of Michigan) Building on Hubble’s Legacy
Brown dwarfs, given the difficulty of finding them, have a wealth of information to provide, particularly in star formation and planetary research given their similarities to both stars and planets. NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has been on the hunt for these brown dwarfs for decades.
Even though Hubble can’t observe the brown dwarfs in the Flame Nebula to as low a mass as Webb can, it was crucial in identifying candidates for further study. This study is an example of how Webb took the baton—decades of Hubble data from the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex—and enabled in-depth research.
“It’s really difficult to do this work, looking at brown dwarfs down to even ten Jupiter masses, from the ground, especially in regions like this. And having existing Hubble data over the last 30 years or so allowed us to know that this is a really useful star-forming region to target. We needed to have Webb to be able to study this particular science topic,” said De Furio.
“It’s a quantum leap in our capabilities between understanding what was going on from Hubble. Webb is really opening an entirely new realm of possibilities, understanding these objects,” explained astronomer Massimo Robberto of the Space Telescope Science Institute.
This team is continuing to study the Flame Nebula, using Webb’s spectroscopic tools to further characterize the different objects within its dusty cocoon.
“There’s a big overlap between the things that could be planets and the things that are very, very low mass brown dwarfs,” Meyer stated. “And that’s our job in the next five years: to figure out which is which and why.”
These results are accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Image C (Animated): Flame Nebula (Hubble and Webb Comparison)
This animated image alternates between a Hubble Space Telescope and a James Webb Space Telescope observation of the Flame Nebula, a nearby star-forming nebula less than 1 million years old. In this comparison, three low-mass objects are highlighted. In Hubble’s observation, the low-mass objects are hidden by the region’s dense dust and gas. However, the objects are brought out in the Webb observation due to Webb’s sensitivity to faint infrared light. NASA, ESA, CSA, Alyssa Pagan (STScI) The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).
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Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.
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Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.
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Last Updated Mar 10, 2025 Editor Marty McCoy Contact Laura Betz laura.e.betz@nasa.gov Related Terms
James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Astrophysics Brown Dwarfs Goddard Space Flight Center Science & Research Star-forming Nebulae The Universe View the full article
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By NASA
Rotor Optimization for the Advancement of Mars eXploration (ROAMX) team members and test stand at NASA Ames Research Center.NASA During 2024-2025, helicopter blades optimized for Mars were tested in the Planetary Aeolian Laboratory (PAL) at NASA Ames Research Center as part of the Rotor Optimization for the Advancement of Mars eXploration (ROAMX) project. The experimental test-chamber of the PAL can be depressurized to create atmospheric air pressures of different planetary bodies such as Mars. The full-scale ROAMX blades were spun in hover configuration up to 4000 RPM at an atmospheric density of Mars (approximately 0.015 kilograms per cubic meter). The Ingenuity blades were also tested in the PAL to compare the performance of the optimized blades against the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Technology Demonstrator. The test was conducted to validate computational models of the performance of the optimized blades. Simulations show that the optimized ROAMX blades perform significantly better than the Ingenuity blades, allowing helicopters on Mars to fly farther, faster, and carry a science payload. The next phase of testing will occur with higher RPMs and additional collective angles.
Rotor Optimization for the Advancement of Mars eXploration (ROAMX) hover test stand with ROAMX blades installed in the Planetary Aeolian Laboratory (PAL) low-pressure chamber at NASA Ames Research Center.NASAView the full article
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By NASA
Credit: NASA NASA has selected SpaceX of Starbase, Texas, to provide launch services for the Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor mission, which will detect and observe asteroids and comets that could potentially pose an impact threat to Earth.
The firm fixed price launch service task order is being awarded under the indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity NASA Launch Services II contract. The total cost to NASA for the launch service is approximately $100 million, which includes the launch service and other mission related costs. The NEO Surveyor mission is targeted to launch no earlier than September 2027 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida.
The NEO Surveyor mission consists of a single scientific instrument: an almost 20-inch (50-centimeter) diameter telescope that will operate in two heat-sensing infrared wavelengths. It will be capable of detecting both bright and dark asteroids, the latter being the most difficult type to find with existing assets. The space telescope is designed to help advance NASA’s planetary defense efforts to discover and characterize most of the potentially hazardous asteroids and comets that come within 30 million miles of Earth’s orbit. These are collectively known as near-Earth objects, or NEOs.
The mission will carry out a five-year baseline survey to find at least two-thirds of the unknown NEOs larger than 140 meters (460 feet). These are the objects large enough to cause major regional damage in the event of an Earth impact. By using two heat-sensitive infrared imaging channels, the telescope can also make more accurate measurements of the sizes of NEOs and gain information about their composition, shapes, rotational states, and orbits.
The mission is tasked by NASA’s Planetary Science Division within the agency’s Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Program oversight is provided by NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office, which was established in 2016 to manage the agency’s ongoing efforts in planetary defense. NASA’s Planetary Missions Program Office at the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, provides program management for NEO Surveyor. The project is being developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
Multiple aerospace and engineering companies are contracted to build the spacecraft and its instrumentation, including BAE Systems SMS (Space & Mission Systems), Space Dynamics Laboratory, and Teledyne. The Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder, will support operations, and the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, California, is responsible for processing survey data and producing the mission’s data products. Caltech manages JPL for NASA. Mission team leadership includes the University of California, Los Angeles. NASA’s Launch Services Program at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida is responsible for managing the launch service.
For more information about NEO Surveyor, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/neo-surveyor/
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Patti Bielling
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Last Updated Feb 21, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
Kennedy Space Center Launch Services Office Launch Services Program NEO Surveyor (Near-Earth Object Surveyor Space Telescope) Planetary Defense Coordination Office Planetary Science Division Science Mission Directorate Space Operations Mission Directorate View the full article
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By European Space Agency
The European Space Agency (ESA) has endorsed the United Nations' (UN) designation of 2029 as the International Year of Asteroid Awareness and Planetary Defence.
The initiative will foster international collaboration in the field of planetary defence and educate the public on the risks and opportunities associated with near-Earth asteroids.
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By NASA
5 Min Read Planetary Alignments and Planet Parades
A sky chart showing Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Venus in a “planet parade.” Credits:
NASA/JPL-Caltech On most nights, weather permitting, you can spot at least one bright planet in the night sky. While two or three planets are commonly visible in the hours around sunset, occasionally four or five bright planets can be seen simultaneously with the naked eye. These events, often called “planet parades” or “planetary alignments,” can generate significant public interest. Though not exceedingly rare, they’re worth observing since they don’t happen every year.
Why Planets Appear Along a Line in The Sky
“Planet parade” isn’t a technical term in astronomy, and “planetary alignment” can refer to several different phenomena. As the planets of our solar system orbit the Sun, they occasionally line up in space in events called oppositions and conjunctions. A planetary alignment can also refer to apparent lineups in our sky with other planets, the Moon, or bright stars.
The planets of our solar system always appear along a line on the sky. This line, referred to as the ecliptic, represents the plane in which the planets orbit, seen from our position within the plane itself. NASA/Preston Dyches When it comes to this second type of planetary alignment, it’s important to understand that planets always appear along a line or arc across the sky. This occurs because the planets orbit our Sun in a relatively flat, disc-shaped plane. From Earth, we’re looking into that solar system plane from within. We see the racetrack of the planets from the perspective of one of the racers ourselves. When viewed edge-on, this disc appears as a line, which we call the ecliptic or ecliptic plane.
So, while planet alignment itself isn’t unusual, what makes these events special is the opportunity to observe multiple planets simultaneously with the naked eye.
Will the Planets Actually be Visible?
Before preparing to observe a planet parade, we have to consider how high the planets will appear above the horizon. For most observers to see a planet with the naked eye, it needs to be at least a few degrees above the horizon, and10 degrees or higher is best. This is crucial because Earth’s atmosphere near the ground dims celestial objects as they rise or set. Even bright planets become difficult or impossible to spot when they’re too low, as their light gets scattered and absorbed on its path to your eye. Buildings, trees, and other obstructions often block the view near the horizon as well.
This visibility challenge is particularly notable after sunset or before sunrise, where the sky is still glowing. If a planet appears very low within the sunset glow, it is very difficult to observe.
The Planets You Can See, and Those You Can’t
Five planets are visible without optical aid: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Ancient civilizations recognized these worlds as bright lights that wandered across the starscape, while the background stars remained fixed in place. In fact, the word “planet” comes to us from the Greek word for “wanderer.”
The solar system includes two additional major planets, Uranus and Neptune, plus numerous dwarf planets like Pluto and Ceres. Uranus and Neptune orbit in the dim, cold depths of the outer solar system. Neptune absolutely requires a telescope to observe. While Uranus is technically bright enough to detect with good eyesight, it’s quite faint and requires dark skies and precise knowledge of its location among similarly faint stars, so a telescope is recommended. As we’ll discuss in the next section, planet parades necessarily must be observed in twilight before dawn or after sunset, and this is not a good time to try observing extremely faint objects like Uranus and Neptune.
Thus, claims about rare six- or seven-planet alignments which include Uranus and Neptune should be viewed with the understanding that these two distant planets will not be visible to the unaided eye.
What Makes Multi-Planet Lineups Special
Lineups of four or five planet naked-eye planets with optimal visibility typically occur every few years. Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn are frequently seen in the night sky, but the addition of Venus and Mercury make four- and five-planet lineups particularly noteworthy. Both orbit closer to the Sun than Earth, with smaller, faster orbits than the other planets. Venus is visible for only a couple of months at a time when it reaches its greatest separation from the Sun (called elongation), appearing just after sunset or before sunrise. Mercury, completing its orbit in just 88 days, is visible for only a couple of weeks (or even a few days) at a time just after sunset or just before sunrise.
Planet parades aren’t single-day events, as the planets move too slowly for that. Generally, multi-planet viewing opportunities last for weeks to a month or more. Even five-planet events last for several days as Mercury briefly emerges from and returns to the Sun’s glare.
In summary, while they aren’t once-in-a-lifetime events, planetary parades afford an uncommon opportunity to look up and appreciate our place in our solar system, with diverse worlds arrayed across the sky before our very eyes.
Other Planet Lineups
Other recent and near-future multi-planet viewing opportunities:
January 2016 – Four planets visible at once before sunrise Late April to Late August 2022 – Four planets visible at once before sunrise Mid-June to Early July 2022 – Five planets visible at once before sunrise January to mid-February 2025 – Four planets visible at once after sunset Late August 2025 – Four planets visible at once before sunrise Late October 2028 – Five planets visible at once before sunrise Late February 2034 – Five planets visible at once after sunset (Venus and Mercury challenging to observe) About the January/February 2025 Planet Parade
The current four-planet lineup concludes by mid-February, as Saturn sinks increasingly lower in the sky each night after sunset. By mid-to-late February, Saturn appears less than 10 degrees above the horizon as sunset fades, making it difficult to observe for most people. While Mercury briefly joins Saturn in the post-sunset glow at the end of February, both planets will be too low and faint for most observers to spot.
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