Space has officially outdone itself. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has released stunning new images of a mysterious cosmic object nicknamed the “Exposed Cranium” nebula – a billowing cloud of gas and dust located some 5,000 light-years away that looks like a human brain floating inside a transparent skull. Officially known as Nebula PMR 1, the structure is being formed by a dying star expelling its outer layers into space, and Webb captured it in both near- and mid-infrared light using two of its powerful instruments revealing details never seen before. The most striking feature is a dark vertical lane running through the center of the nebula, dividing it into two distinct hemispheres just like the left and right sides of a brain, a feature scientists believe may be caused by powerful twin jets blasting outward from the central star.
PMR 1 was first spotted in infrared light over a decade ago by NASA’s now-retired Spitzer Space Telescope, but Webb’s vastly superior resolution has brought the nebula’s brain-like structure into breathtaking focus. The new images reveal two distinct regions capturing different phases of the nebula’s evolution: an outer shell of mostly hydrogen gas expelled first, and a more complex inner cloud of mixed gases emitted later that forms the eerie brain-like interior. What ultimately happens to the central star is still unknown. If it is big enough, it will end in a supernova explosion. If it is more Sun-like, it will slowly shed its layers until only a dense white dwarf remains. Either way, Webb has given humanity a front-row seat to one of the universe’s most dramatic final acts, and it looks absolutely incredible.
Source: https://scitechdaily.com/nasas-webb-telescope-reveals-an-eerie-nebula-that-looks-like-a-giant-brain/
