Red Spider Nebula
- The James Webb Space Telescope has captured new details of the Red Spider Nebula, a planetary nebula.
- The image reveals the full extent of the nebula’s outstretched lobes, which form the ‘legs’ of the spider and are traced by light emitted from H2 molecules.
- The lobes are shown to be closed, bubble-like structures that each extend about 3 light-years and have been inflated over thousands of years by outflowing gas from the center of the nebula.
- NASA’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) was used to capture this image, providing high-resolution imaging and spectroscopy for a wide variety of investigations.
- The new view of the Red Spider Nebula offers insights into the formation and evolution of planetary nebulas, shedding light on the processes that shape these celestial objects.
Using its Near-InfraRed Camera (NIRCam), NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope captured never-before-seen details of the Red Spider Nebula, a planetary nebula, in this image released on Oct. 26, 2025. NIRCam is Webb’s primary near-infrared imager, providing high-resolution imaging and spectroscopy for a wide variety of investigations.
Webb’s new view of the Red Spider Nebula reveals for the first time the full extent of the nebula’s outstretched lobes, which form the ‘legs’ of the spider. These lobes, shown in blue, are traced by light emitted from H2 molecules, which contain two hydrogen atoms bonded together. Stretching over the entirety of NIRCam’s field of view, these lobes are shown to be closed, bubble-like structures that each extend about 3 light-years. Outflowing gas from the center of the nebula has inflated these massive bubbles over thousands of years.
Image credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, J. H. Kastner (Rochester Institute of Technology)