The NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope captured the actively forming protostar EC 53 (circled at left) in the Serpens Nebula in this image released on Jan. 21, 2026.
Astronomers have long sought evidence to explain why comets at the outskirts of our own solar system contain crystalline silicates, since crystals require intense heat to form and these “dirty snowballs” spend most of their time in the ultracold Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud. Now, looking outside our solar system, Webb has returned the first conclusive evidence that links how those conditions are possible.
The telescope clearly showed for the first time that the hot, inner part of the disk of gas and dust surrounding a very young, actively forming star is where crystalline silicates are forged. Webb also revealed a strong outflow that is capable of carrying the crystals to the outer edges of this disk. Compared to our own fully formed, mostly dust-cleared solar system, the crystals would be forming approximately between the Sun and Earth.
Read more about this discovery.
Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Klaus Pontoppidan (NASA-JPL), Joel Green (STScI); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)
这张由NASA詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜（James Webb Space Telescope）搭载的近红外相机（NIRCam）拍摄的图像于2026年1月21日发布。画面捕捉到了位于巨蛇座星云（Serpens Nebula）中正处于活跃形成期的原恒星EC 53（左侧圆圈处）。
天文学家长期以来一直苦寻证据，试图解释为何身处太阳系边缘的彗星会含有结晶硅酸盐。毕竟，晶体的形成需要高温，而这些被称为“脏雪球”的彗星大部分时间都待在极度寒冷的柯伊伯带和奥尔特云中。如今，通过将目光投向太阳系之外，韦伯望远镜传回了首个确凿证据，揭示了这一看似矛盾的现象背后的机制。
韦伯望远镜首次清晰地展示出，在一颗非常年轻且活跃的恒星周围，其气体尘埃盘的炽热内部区域正是锻造结晶硅酸盐的场所。韦伯还揭示了一股强劲的物质外流，它足以将这些晶体输送至尘埃盘的外缘。若以我们这个已完全成型且尘埃基本散尽的太阳系作类比，这些晶体的形成区域大约位于太阳与地球之间。
图片来源: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Klaus Pontoppidan (NASA-JPL), Joel Green (STScI); 图像处理: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)
