'Cosmic burger': NASA's James Webb telescope clicks 'hamburger' in space

When our solar system formed, the Sun was the first to form out of clumps of gaseous clouds that came together, collapsed under their own gravity and eventually kickstarted nuclear fusion as more and more material 'fell' into the still-forming Sun. After the Sun was formed, the remaining material was still revolving around it. This 'protoplanetary' disc eventually gave rise to planets.

Researchers have used the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to click a space 'hamburger'. In a layman terms, this is the very first ice map of a protoplanetary disc around a young star.

Why study protoplanetary discs?

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The protoplanetary disc around a young star can contain many elements. As reported in Space[dot]com, presence of ice in the protoplanetary disc helps matter clump together. This may in turn, help formation of planets or even comets around the star. Study of protoplanetary discs can reveal a lot about formation of our solar system and models of planet formation.

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Making an ice-map of a protoplanetary disc using a telescope from Earth is very tough due to obstruction created by our water-molecule-loaded atmosphere. But from space, and with the help of a super-powerful telescope like JWST, what's impossibile soon ceases to remain impossible.

The team of researchers led by Ardjan Sturm, a scientist from Leiden University in the Netherlands, pointed JWST at a young star designated as HH 48 NE. It is 600 light-years away from us.

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As the star passed through the protoplanetary disc, its light was filtered through the dust, ice and other material containing a variety of elements. Now each element absorbs and emits light in specific way, giving rise to somewhat of a 'signature' of that element. And by observing the spectrum, a picture can be 'painted' about what elements might be present in whatever the light is passing through.

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"The direct mapping of ice in a planet-forming disk provides important input for modeling studies that help to better understand the formation of our Earth, other planets in our Solar System and around other stars. With those observations, we can now begin to make firmer statements about the physics and chemistry of star and planet formation," said Ardjan Sturm, the lead author of the study as quoted on the website of Leiden University.

The image prepared by analysing the spetra resembles a hamburger complete with brown buns, green lettuce and more.

(With inputs from agencies)