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IC 348 (NIRCam Image)

A star-forming region. The left two thirds of the image is blanketed in thick clouds of green and yellow gas and dust that form swirling patterns. Some of the gas is spread into thin, thready wisps. The right third of the image is the black background speckled with stars and multi-colored dots that represent distant galaxies. Bright stars are scattered throughout the clouds, with the densest cluster situated in the center of the scene. Each is crowned with six long spikes and two shorter spikes created by the optics of the telescope’s mirrors. In the upper right, a couple of hidden stars blast out long, glowing jets of material that glow in blue.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope recently observed IC 348, a star-forming region just 1,000 light-years away from Earth. This is one of the largest Webb images released to the public to date. This near-infrared vista of IC 348 reveals a collection of objects called brown dwarfs, which are smaller than the smallest stars.

Researchers used the unparalleled sensitivity of Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) to track down the smallest brown dwarfs in IC 348, which weigh in at just twice the mass of Jupiter. These are the least massive brown dwarfs known, and their existence poses challenges to models of how stars form.

In addition to the brown dwarfs and young stars scattered across the swirling nebula, this image provides a unique perspective on a handful of protostars, which can be seen in the upper-right corner. These protostars are ejecting powerful jets that have crashed into the gas and dust surrounding them, creating luminous regions called Herbig-Haro objects.

About the Object

  • R.A. Position
    R.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
    03:44:34.28
  • Dec. Position
    Dec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
    +32:09:43.10
  • 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 1,000 lightyears
  • Dimensions
    DimensionsThe physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.
    This image is about 19.1 arcminutes high (.1 lightyear)

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: 4866 (K. Luuhman).

  • 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.
    30 Aug 2024
  • Filters
    FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
    F162M, F182M, F360M, F444W
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    IC 348
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Open star cluster
  • Release Date
    September 15, 2026
  • Science Release
    NASA’s Webb Reveals Dynamic Panorama of Star Formation
    Read the release
  • Credit
    Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, Kevin Luhman (PSU), Catarina Alves de Oliveira (ESA), Mahdi Zamani (ESA/Webb)

Downloads

  • Full-Res (For Print), 30866 × 38204
    tif (1644.67 MB)
  • Full-Res (For Display), 30866 × 38204
    png (1778.23 MB)
  • 30866 × 38204
    jpg (468.63 MB)
  • 1616 × 2000
    jpg (1.51 MB)
A star-forming region. The left two thirds of the image is blanketed in thick clouds of green and yellow gas and dust that form swirling patterns. Some of the gas is spread into thin, thready wisps. The right third of the image is the black background speckled with stars and multi-colored dots that represent distant galaxies. Bright stars are scattered throughout the clouds, with the densest cluster situated in the center of the scene. Each is crowned with six long spikes and two shorter spikes created by the optics of the telescope’s mirrors. In the upper right, a couple of hidden stars blast out long, glowing jets of material that glow in blue.
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= F162M+F182M, Green= F360M, Red= F444W

Related Images & Videos

A collage, with three large panels along the top and four smaller ones on the bottom. The middle panel on top shows star-forming region IC 348, which has a blanket of thick clouds of yellow and green dust blanketing most of the image. Six boxes are drawn around features in the region, numbered 1-6. The other six panels are numbered and show these features enlarged. They include bright stars throughout the nebula, protostars shooting jets of gas, a distant spiral galaxy, and a gravitational lens.

IC 348 Collage

This collage features a collection of insets from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s image of star-forming region IC 348: embedded stars, a central star cluster, faint outflows, Herbig-Haro objects, gravitational lensing, and spiral galaxies.

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Details

Last Updated
Sep 15, 2026
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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