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Chamaeleon I Molecular Cloud (NIRCam Image)

A black background is filled with pinpoints of light, which are distant galaxies, in different shades of red, orange, and blue. In the foreground and taking up most of the image are blue, smoky, translucent wisps. They begin at bottom left and make their way through the center before going out toward the top. On the left top side, some of the wisps are orange and white. Below them are four bright points of light, which are stars. Three are orange, and the one at far left appears orange-white. The stars have Webb’s signature 8-point diffraction spikes, which are also orange.

This image by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) features the central region of the Chamaeleon I dark molecular cloud, which resides 630 light years away. The cold, wispy cloud material (blue, center) is illuminated in the infrared by the glow of the young, outflowing protostar Ced 110 IRS 4 (orange, upper left). The light from numerous background stars, seen as orange dots behind the cloud, can be used to detect ices in the cloud, which absorb the starlight passing through them. 

An international team of astronomers has reported the discovery of diverse ices in the darkest regions of a cold molecular cloud measured to date by studying this region. This result allows astronomers to examine the simple icy molecules that will be incorporated into future exoplanets, while opening a new window on the origin of more complex molecules that are the first step in the creation of the building blocks of life.

About the Object

  • R.A. Position
    R.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
    11:06:46.47
  • Dec. Position
    Dec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
    -77:22:32.93
  • Constellation
    ConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
    Chamaeleon
  • 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.
    630 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: 1309 (M. McClure).

  • 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.
    11-12 Aug 2022
  • Filters
    FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
    F150W, F410M
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    Chamaeleon I
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Molecular cloud
  • Release Date
    January 23, 2023
  • Science Release
    Webb Unveils Dark Side of Pre-stellar Ice Chemistry
    Read the release
  • Credit
    Image: NASA, ESA, CSA; Science: IceAge ERS Team, Fengwu Sun (Steward Observatory), Zak Smith (The Open University); Image Processing: Mahdi Zamani (ESA/Webb)

Downloads

  • Full Res (For Print), 9474 × 4654
    tif (78.71 MB)
  • Full Res (For Display), 9474 × 4654
    png (61.57 MB)
  • 2000 × 982
    png (2.45 MB)
A black background is filled with pinpoints of light, which are distant galaxies, in different shades of red, orange, and blue. In the foreground and taking up most of the image are blue, smoky, translucent wisps. They begin at bottom left and make their way through the center before going out toward the top. On the left top side, some of the wisps are orange and white. Below them are four bright points of light, which are stars. Three are orange, and the one at far left appears orange-white. The stars have Webb’s signature 8-point diffraction spikes, which are also orange.
Color Info
Color InfoA brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.

These images are 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:   Orange: F150W, Blue: F410M

Related Images & Videos

Graphic titled “Chamaeleon I Dark Cloud Background Star NIR38 – Ice Chemical Composition.” The graphic includes four graphs—spectra—arranged in a 2 by 2 grid. The two upper graphs and lower-left graph show the brightness of the background star on the vertical y axis versus wavelength of light in microns on the horizontal x axis. The graph at lower-right shows optical depth on the vertical y axis versus wavelength of light in microns on the horizontal x axis.

Chamaeleon I Dark Cloud (NIRCam, NIRSpec, and MIRI Spectra)

Astronomers have taken an inventory of the most deeply embedded ices in a cold molecular cloud to date. They used light from a background star, named NIR38, to illuminate the dark cloud called Chamaeleon I. Ices within the cloud absorbed certain wavelengths of infrared light,...

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Details

Last Updated
Aug 28, 2025
Contact
Media

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

Image Credit

NASA, ESA, CSA

Science Credit

IceAge ERS Team, Fengwu Sun (Steward Observatory), Zak Smith (The Open University)

Image Processing Credit

Mahdi Zamani (ESA/Webb)

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