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The Milky Way\u2019s outer reaches are coming into view thanks to the JWST. Astronomers pointed the powerful space telescope to a region over 58,000 light-years away called the Extreme Outer Galaxy (EOG). They found star clusters exhibiting extremely high rates of star formation. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n The Milky Way\u2019s EOG is defined as the part of the galaxy with a galactocentric radius of 18 kpc. That translates to almost 59,000 light-years, and for comparison, our Solar System is about 26,000 light-years from the galactic centre. <\/p>\n A team of astronomers used the JWST\u2019s powerful NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) and MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) to examine star formation in two specific regions of the EOG. They\u2019re molecular clouds named Digel Cloud 1 and Digel Cloud 2. They\u2019re named after the astronomer Seth Digel, who discovered them in 1994. <\/p>\n The environment in the EOG is different than our Solar System\u2019s neighbourhood; their metallicity and gas density are significantly lower. Metallicity and gas density play huge roles in how Solar Systems evolve and how planets form. The JWST is giving astronomers an opportunity to examine star formation in the EOG at the same level of detail they can closer to home. <\/p>\n The JWST\u2019s supreme observing power allowed the researchers to examine the regions, and they found nebular structures, extremely young protostars, and outflow jets. Their findings are in research published in the Astronomical Journal titled \u201cOverview Results of JWST Observations of Star-forming Clusters in the Extreme Outer Galaxy.\u201d The lead author is Natsuko Izumi of Gifu University and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat was fascinating and astounding to me from the Webb data is that there are multiple jets shooting out in all different directions from this cluster of stars.\u201d<\/p>\n Mike Ressler, NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n \n\n