Sagittarius C (Sgr C)

About Sagittarius C (Sgr C):

• It is the star-forming region known to be situated approximately 300 light-years from the Milky Way's central supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*.
• It is revealing a bustling cluster of protostars within an infrared-dark cloud.
• These nascent stars are in the process of accumulating mass, their outflows glowing intensely in the infrared spectrum, akin to embers in a cosmic bonfire.
• The cloud that protostars are emerging from is so dense that the light from stars behind it cannot reach Webb.
• Scattered throughout are smaller infrared-dark clouds, akin to celestial voids against the starry backdrop, signalling the birthplaces of future stars.
• Webb's Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) has detected extensive emissions from ionised hydrogen on the periphery of the dark cloud, highlighted in a striking cyan hue.

Key facts about the James Webb Space Telescope

• It was built in collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency(ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency.
• It was launched in December 2021.
• It is presently at a point in space known as the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point.
• Lagrange Point 2 is one of the five points in the orbital plane of the Earth-Sun system.
• It's the largest, most powerful infrared space telescope ever built.
• Objectives: It will examine every phase of cosmic history, from the Big Bang to the formation of galaxies, stars, and planets to the evolution of our Solar System.