James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)

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NASA Webb Finds Early-Universe Analog’s Unexpected Talent for Making Dust

NASA Webb Mission Team

Goddard Space Flight Center 06 Jan 2026

 

Using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have spotted two rare kinds of dust in the dwarf galaxy Sextans A, one of the most chemically primitive galaxies near the Milky Way. The finding of metallic iron dust and silicon carbide (SiC) produced by aging stars, along with tiny clumps of carbon-based molecules, shows that even when the universe had only a fraction of today’s heavy elements, stars and the interstellar medium could still forge solid dust grains. This research with Webb is reshaping ideas about how early galaxies evolved and developed the building blocks for planets, as NASA explores the secrets of the universe and our place in it.

 

Article link:

https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasa-webb-finds-early-universe-analogs-unexpected-talent-for-making-dust/

 

Pic Description: 

Images from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope of the dwarf galaxy Sextans A reveal polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), large carbon-based molecules that can be a signifier of star formation. The inset at the top right zooms in on those PAHs, which are represented in green.

Credits: Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, Elizabeth Tarantino (STScI), Martha Boyer (STScI), Julia Roman-Duval (STScI); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

 

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First Sky Map from NASA’s SPHEREx Observatory

By Monika Luabeya 06 Jan 2026

 

NASA’s SPHEREx Observatory has mapped the entire sky in 102 infrared colors, as seen here in this image released on Dec. 18, 2025. This image features a selection of colors emitted primarily by stars (blue, green, and white), hot hydrogen gas (blue), and cosmic dust (red).

 

While not visible to the human eye, these 102 infrared wavelengths of light are prevalent in the cosmos, and observing the entire sky this way enables scientists to answer big questions, including how a dramatic event that occurred in the first billionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of a second after the big bang influenced the 3D distribution of hundreds of millions of galaxies in our universe. In addition, scientists will use the data to study how galaxies have changed over the universe’s nearly 14-billion-year history and learn about the distribution of key ingredients for life in our own galaxy.

 

Article link: 

https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/first-sky-map-from-nasas-spherex-observatory/

 

Pic Description: 

NASA’s SPHEREx Observatory has mapped the entire sky in 102 infrared colors, as seen here in this image released on Dec. 18, 2025. This image features a selection of colors emitted primarily by stars (blue, green, and white), hot hydrogen gas (blue), and cosmic dust (red).

NASA/JPL-Caltech

 

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Watch a Supernova's Expansion Over 25 Years in Dramatic NASA Timelapse

09 January 2026 By Michelle Starr

 

A new video provides a front-row seat to a cosmic drama that has been playing out for centuries.

 

Kepler's supernova remnant is extremely exciting for astronomers – a rare example of a supernova for which we have a clear kick-off timeline, dating back more than 400 years. It's also just 20,000 light-years away; not super-close, but close enough that, with today's instruments, its changes can be tracked in exquisite detail.

 

Read more:

Watch a Supernova's Expansion Over 25 Years in Dramatic NASA Timelapse : ScienceAlert https://share.google/lQozKD6OeeOHmCekA

 

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Edited Saturday at 11:59 AM by ➕👇 ꓤꓱꓷꓠꓵ🎵Tone

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NASA’s Webb Delivers Unprecedented Look Into Heart of Circinus Galaxy

Tuesday, January 13, 2026 5am Release ID: 2026-105

 

Summary

A specialized technique may change what scientists thought about how much material black holes eject.

 

Supermassive black holes are known to both consume and eject matter during their most active periods. Based on previous observations, astronomers theorized that Circinus’ active black hole ejected a much larger amount of matter in the form of outflows than they took in. However, a highly specialized observation mode on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has begun to change what some astronomers think about the amount of matter lost to outflows from some black holes.

 

Article Link:

https://www.stsci.edu/contents/news-releases/2026/news-2026-105/

 

Pic Description: 

This image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope shows the Circinus galaxy. A close-up of its core from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope shows the inner face of the hole of the donut-shaped disk of gas disk glowing in infrared light. The outer ring appears as dark spots. 

Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, Enrique Lopez-Rodriguez (University of South Carolina), Deepashri Thatte (STScI); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI); Acknowledgment: NSF's NOIRLab, CTIO