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Pismis 24 (NIRCam Compass Image)

Image titled "James Webb Space Telescope, Pismis 24, NGC 6357" with compass arrows, scale bar, and color key. Image shows brilliant stars against a blue and black sky covering about two thirds of the image. Across the bottom third is a craggy, mountain-like vista with soaring peaks and deep, seemingly misty valleys. A wispy white cloud stretches horizontally across the mountaintops. At bottom left, compass arrows indicate the orientation of the image on the sky. The north arrow points downward in the 6 o’clock direction. The east arrow points in the 3 o’clock direction. At lower right is a scale bar labeled 1 light-year. The length of the bar is a about one-eighth the total width of the image. Below the image is a color key showing which NIRCam filters were used to create the image and which visible-light color is assigned to each filter. From left to right, filters are: F090W is blue; F187N is blue-green; F200W is yellow-green; F335M is orange; and F470N is red.

This image of Pismis 24, also called NGC 6357, was captured by the James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera). For reference, it shows compass arrows, scale bar, and color key. The north and east compass arrows show the orientation of the image on the sky. Note that the relationship between north and east on the sky (as seen from below) is flipped to the direction arrows on a map of the ground (as seen from above). The scale bar is labeled 1 light-year, which is the distance that light travels in one Earth-year. (One light-year is equal to about 5.88 trillion miles or 9.46 trillion kilometers.) This image shows invisible near-infrared wavelengths of light that have been translated into visible-light colors. The color key shows which NIRCam filters were used when collecting the light. The color of each filter name is the visible light color used to represent the infrared light that passes through that filter.

About the Object

  • R.A. Position
    R.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
    17:24:44.38
  • Dec. Position
    Dec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
    -34:11:35.35
  • Constellation
    ConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
    Scorpius
  • Distance
    DistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.
    5,500 light-years
  • Dimensions
    DimensionsThe physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.
    Image is 5.6 arcminutes tall (about 9 light-years) and 4 arcminutes across (about 6.5 light-years). 

About the Data

  • Data Description
    Data DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
    Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.

    This image was created with Webb data from proposal: 6783 (M. Garcia Marin). Image processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI).

  • Instrument
    InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
    NIRCam
  • Exposure Dates
    Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
    06 Sept 2024
  • Filters
    FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
    F090W, F187N, F200W, F335M, F470N
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    Pismis 24, HD 319718, NGC 6357
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Star-forming region
  • Release Date
    September 4, 2025
  • Science Release
    Glittering Glimpse of Star Birth From NASA’s Webb Telescope
    Read the release
  • Credit
    Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

Downloads

  • Full Res (For Print Only), 8088 × 12898
    tif (120.4 MB)
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  • 1254 × 2000
    png (3.99 MB)
Image titled "James Webb Space Telescope, Pismis 24, NGC 6357" with compass arrows, scale bar, and color key. Image shows brilliant stars against a blue and black sky covering about two thirds of the image. Across the bottom third is a craggy, mountain-like vista with soaring peaks and deep, seemingly misty valleys. A wispy white cloud stretches horizontally across the mountaintops. At bottom left, compass arrows indicate the orientation of the image on the sky. The north arrow points downward in the 6 o’clock direction. The east arrow points in the 3 o’clock direction. At lower right is a scale bar labeled 1 light-year. The length of the bar is a about one-eighth the total width of the image. Below the image is a color key showing which NIRCam filters were used to create the image and which visible-light color is assigned to each filter. From left to right, filters are: F090W is blue; F187N is blue-green; F200W is yellow-green; F335M is orange; and F470N is red.
Color Info
Color InfoA brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.

This image is a composite of separate exposures acquired by the James Webb Space Telescope using the NIRCam instrument. Several filters were used to sample specific wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are:   Blue: F090W, Cyan: F187N, Green/Yellow: F200W, Orange: F335M, Red: F470N

Related Images & Videos

In what appears as a celestial dreamscape, a blue and black sky filled with brilliant stars covers about two thirds of the image. The stars are different sizes and shades of white, beige, yellow, and light orange. Across the bottom third of the scene is a craggy, mountain-like vista with spire-like peaks and deep, seemingly misty valleys. These so-called mountains appear in varying shades of orange, yellow, and brown. Above their soaring spires is a wispy, ethereal white cloud that stretched horizontally across the scene. Steam appears to rise from the mountaintops and join with this cloud. At the top, right corner of the image, a swath of orange and brown structure cuts diagonally across the sky.

Pismis 24 (NIRCam Image)

Webb captured this sparkling scene of star birth in Pismis 24, a young star cluster about 5,500 light-years from Earth in the constellation Scorpius. This region is one of the best places to explore the properties of hot young stars and how they evolve.

In what appears as a celestial dreamscape, a blue and black sky filled with brilliant stars covers the top quarter of the image. The stars are different sizes and shades of white, beige, yellow, and light orange. Near the middle of the field, the two largest stars are white with six-pointed diffraction spikes. Across the bottom quarter of the scene is a craggy, mountain-like vista with a spire-like peak pointing toward those two largest stars. The so-called mountain appears in varying shades of orange, yellow, and brown. A wispy, ethereal white cloud stretches across the scene, separating the apparent mountain from the blue and black sky.

Expedition to Star Cluster Pismis 24

This scientific visualization takes viewers on a journey to a glittering young star cluster called Pismis 24. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope captured this fantastical scene in the heart of the Lobster Nebula, approximately 5,500 light-years from Earth. This image, ...

A black sky is highly speckled with tiny white stars. On this field is a red, irregular cloud that looks somewhat like a lobster with its claws extended and pointing to the top left corner. In the middle of the red cloud is a seemingly small, white clump. To the left of the red cloud is a milky white nebulosity that stretched to the left edge of the image. At the bottom right of the picture, a quartet of large white stars are surrounded by tight, fuzzy gray rings. The leftmost of these four stars appears to be on or in the red cloud, while the other three seem to be outside of it.

Zoom to Pismis 24

This zoom-in video shows the location of the young star cluster Pismis 24 on the sky. It begins with a ground-based photo of the constellation Scorpius by the late astrophotographer Akira Fujii. The sequence closes in on the Lobster Nebula, using views from the Digitized Sky Surv...

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Details

Last Updated
Dec 16, 2025
Location
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Contact
Media

Laura Betz
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
laura.e.betz@nasa.gov

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