Pretty in Pink
Pretty in Pink

This image of Westerlund 2 released on March 19, 2026, features Chandra X-ray Observatory data (pink) and infrared data from NASA’S James Webb Space Telescope (red, orange, green, cyan, and blue). Scores of gleaming stars ringed in neon pink stretch across the frame, highlighting a cluster where stars are between one and three million years […]

Webb Studies Star Clusters
Webb Studies Star Clusters

This near-infrared image released on May 6, 2026, shows a section of one of the spiral arms of Messier 51 (M51). M51 is one of four nearby galaxies observed by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope in a study of nearly 9,000 star clusters. Data from the study shows that more massive star clusters emerge more […]

NASA Finds Young Stars Dim in X-rays Surprisingly Quickly
NASA Finds Young Stars Dim in X-rays Surprisingly Quickly

Scientists have found that young stellar cousins of our Sun are calming down and dimming more quickly in their X-ray output than previously thought, according to a new study using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. A paper describing the results published Monday in The Astrophysical Journal. Unlike in the new movie “Project Hail Mary,” this quieting […]

Chandra, Webb Catch Twinkling Lights
Chandra, Webb Catch Twinkling Lights

Data from Chandra adds red, green, and blue twinkling lights in this Dec. 22, 2025, image of Pismis 24 from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Pismis 24 is a young cluster of stars in the core of the nearby Lobster Nebula, approximately 5,500 light-years from Earth in the constellation Scorpius. Home to a vibrant stellar nursery […]