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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, taken in infrared light, reveals a vibrant nursery of massive stars and illustrates how these newborns can reshape their environment. What appears to be a craggy, starlit mountaintop kissed by wispy clouds is actually a cosmic dust-scape being eaten away by the relentless winds and blistering radiation of the nearby massive, infant stars. 

As the camera flies along the immense wall of gas and dust, viewers pass a dramatic spire pointing like an accusing finger toward the hot, young stars that sculpted it. The journey ends with a view of the some of the cluster’s most massive infant stars. The seemingly serene setting belies the fierce energy emanating from these stars.

  • Release Date
    September 4, 2025
  • Science Release
    Glittering Glimpse of Star Birth From NASA’s Webb Telescope
    Read the release
  • Credit
    Video: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Leah Hustak (STScI), Christian Nieves (STScI); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI); Script Writer: Frank Summers (STScI); Narration: Frank Summers (STScI); Music: Christian Nieves (STScI); Audio: Danielle Kirshenblat (STScI); Producer: Gregory Bacon (STScI); Acknowledgment: VISTA

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  • Video: 2160 × 3840, 60 FPS
    mp4 (89.16 MB)
  • Video: 1080 × 1920, 60 FPS
    mp4 (87.72 MB)
  • Audio: Expedition to Star Cluster Pismis 24 Soundtrack (Christian Nieves, STScI)
    wav (27.9 MB)
  • Captions
    srt (1.29 KB)
  • Image: Poster Image, 1280 × 720
    png (424.86 KB)

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.

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 ou2019clock direction. The east arrow points in the 3 ou2019clock 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.

Pismis 24 (NIRCam Compass Image)

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.

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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