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Captured in near-infrared light (top) and mid-infrared light (bottom) by JWST, different but complementary sets of features can be seen by both instruments. What looks much like craggy mountains on a moonlit evening is actually the edge of a nearby, young, star-forming region NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula. It’s so expansive that, if JWST were exclusively dedicated to observing the entire nebula with its full suite of instruments, the task would take years to accomplish.īut what JWST did, instead, was to take a look at one very small, specific region within the Carina Nebula: NGC 3324, a young star-forming region colloquially known as the “Cosmic Cliffs.” Inside, some of these young stars weigh in at over 100 solar masses, giving rise to stellar cataclysms and explosive events that echo throughout the cosmos. This massive cloud of molecular gas collapses unevenly, leading to waves of new star-formation and copious abundances of compact star clusters. Located between 70 light-years away within our own Milky Way, the Carina Nebula is an enormous star-forming region that spans nearly 300 light-years from end-to-end. ( Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)) The Hubble view is shown atop the JWST NIRCam view, where JWST’s superior resolution and wavelength coverage is on full display. The “cosmic cliffs” seen here in the Carina Nebula, also known as NGC 3324, showcase the interface between a dense bubble wall and a cavity filled with young stars.