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Digel Cloud 2S

At center right is a compact star cluster composed of luminous red, blue, and white points of light. Faint jets with clumpy, diffuse material extend in various directions from the bright cluster. Above and to the right is a smaller cluster of stars. Translucent red wisps of material stretch across the scene. Background galaxies are scattered across this swath of space, appearing as small blue-white and orange-white dots or fuzzy, thin disks.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope observed the outskirts of our Milky Way galaxy. Known as the Extreme Outer Galaxy, this region is located more than 58,000 light-years from the Galactic Center.

To learn more about how a local environment affects the star formation process within it, a team of scientists directed the telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) and MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) toward a total of four star-forming areas within Digel Clouds 1 and 2: 1A, 1B, 2N, and 2S.

In the case of Cloud 2S, shown here, Webb revealed a luminous main cluster that contains newly formed stars. Several of these young stars are emitting extended jets of material from their poles. To the main cluster’s top right is a sub-cluster of stars, a feature that scientists previously suspected to exist but has now been confirmed with Webb. Additionally, the telescope revealed a deep sea of background galaxies and red nebulous structures that are being carved away by winds and radiation from nearby stars.

About the Object

  • R.A. Position
    R.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
    02:48:28.45
  • Dec. Position
    Dec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
    +58:23:29.72
  • Constellation
    ConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
    Perseus
  • 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.
    About 40,000 light-years
  • Dimensions
    DimensionsThe physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.
    Image is 1.8 arcmin across (about 21 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: 1237 (M. Ressler); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

  • Instrument
    InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
    NIRCam, MIRI
  • Exposure Dates
    Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
    17 Jan 2023
  • Filters
    FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
    NIRCam: F115W, F150W, F200W, F356W, F444W MIRI: F770W, F1280W
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    Digel Cloud 2
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Star cluster on the outskirts of the Milky Way galaxy
  • Release Date
    September 12, 2024
  • Science Release
    NASA’s Webb Peers into the Extreme Outer Galaxy
    Read the release
  • Credit
    Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Michael Ressler (NASA-JPL)

Downloads

  • Full Res (For Display), 3378 × 2474
    png (10.31 MB)
  • Full Res (For Print), 3378 × 2474
    tif (12.46 MB)
  • 2000 × 1465
    jpg (925.73 KB)
At center right is a compact star cluster composed of luminous red, blue, and white points of light. Faint jets with clumpy, diffuse material extend in various directions from the bright cluster. Above and to the right is a smaller cluster of stars. Translucent red wisps of material stretch across the scene. Background galaxies are scattered across this swath of space, appearing as small blue-white and orange-white dots or fuzzy, thin disks.
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 and MIRI instruments. Several filters were used to sample wide 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: Purple: F115W, Blue: F150W, Green: F200W, Yellow: F356W, Orange: F444W, Red: F770W, Red: F1280W

Compass and Scale
Compass and ScaleAn astronomical image with a scale that shows how large an object is on the sky, a compass that shows how the object is oriented on the sky, and the filters with which the image was made.

Related Images & Videos

Annotated image of Digel Cloud 2S captured by Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) and MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) with compass arrows, scale bar, color key, and graphic overlays for reference.

Digel Cloud 2S (Compass Image)

Annotated image of Digel Cloud 2S captured by Webb's NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) and MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument), with compass arrows, a scale bar, color key, and graphic overlays for reference. The north and east compass arrows show the orientation of the image on the sky....

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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, STScI, Michael Ressler (NASA-JPL)

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