NASA’s Webb Traces Details of Complex Planetary Nebula
NASA's Curious Universe podcast has a new series, and we're the star! 🌟
In the first episode, Webb scientist Mic Bagley guides us through new discoveries made by Webb and how the telescope's data turns into the beautiful images we get to see.
🎧 https://t.co/3tMkOiJtZ9 pic.twitter.com/kqlxlddMke
— NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb) July 31, 2025
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured stunning new images of the planetary nebula NGC 6072. The images reveal a complex and messy scene that resembles splattered paint. Planetary nebulae form when low to intermediate mass stars expel glowing shells of gas late in their lives.
Dare to be different ⭐ ⭐
Planetary nebulae are typically symmetrical, but some stray from the norm! Webb’s newest look at NGC 6072 reveals an unusual scene, potentially caused by a binary star system (two stars orbiting one another).https://t.co/Ix82lUf9Cw pic.twitter.com/cjrjd5Qgr7
— NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb) July 30, 2025
Most planetary nebulae have circular, elliptical, or bipolar shapes. However, NGC 6072 strays from the norm with its unusual, asymmetrical appearance. Webb’s near-infrared image from the NIRCam instrument shows multiple outflows jetting out in different directions from the center.
Webb’s Stunning Look at NGC 6072
About 3,060 light-years away in Scorpius, the planetary nebula NGC 6072 reveals what may await our Sun in ~5 billion years.
Unlike classic nebulae, this one looks chaotic and blob-like. Webb’s NIRCam shows multiple bipolar outflows likely… pic.twitter.com/0nRbZP1c6r
— Black Hole (@konstructivizm) August 1, 2025
This suggests there are likely at least two stars at the heart of the nebula. A companion star appears to be interacting with an aging star that has begun shedding its outer layers. The central region glows light blue from the hot stellar core.
Dark orange areas indicate pockets of gas and dust. The clumpiness could result from dense molecular clouds shielded from the central star’s hot radiation. Over thousands of years, fast inner winds may be plowing through previously ejected material.
Webb unveils complex nebula structure
The mid-infrared view from Webb’s MIRI instrument highlights dust and reveals concentric rings expanding outward. A small pinkish-white dot at the center is likely the second star.
As this hidden star orbits the primary one, it may have carved out the rings in a bullseye pattern during an earlier stage of mass loss. The rings could also point to periodic pulsations that expelled gas and dust uniformly every few thousand years. Red areas in the NIRCam image and blue regions in the MIRI image both trace cool molecular gas, likely hydrogen.
The central regions show hot ionized gas. As the central star fades and cools, the nebula will gradually dissipate into space. This will enrich the interstellar medium with material that helps form new stars and planets, now containing heavier elements.
Webb’s detailed look at NGC 6072 enables astronomers to study how planetary nebulae with complex shapes contribute to this cosmic recycling process. The telescope continues to solve mysteries in our solar system and probe the origins of the universe. The James Webb Space Telescope is an international observatory led by NASA in partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA) and Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
For more information and images, visit the official Webb website.
