‘Stars are aligning’: NASA’s stunning image of bright star goes viral, mesmerises netizens

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NASA has posted an image of a stunning star which has gone viral on Instagram, with netizens swooning over its beauty.

One always tends to get curious about outer space from time to time, as it contains a wide range of beautiful but mostly unknown wonders, spread across the expanded universe. Currently, it is impossible for humans to know the entirety of the universe.

Though there is much unknown about outer space, space agencies across the world act as a spectacle between us and the vast galaxy. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) often posts photos and clips of certain phenomena from outer space.

An image that NASA posted on Instagram has caught a lot of traction on social media, with the photos now going viral. NASA posted the image of a bright star, which shone with vibrancy, and absolutely mesmerized the netizens.

In the post uploaded by NASA, the caption reads, “The stars are aligning…so to speak!” The photo shows a star shining bright with its yellow-orange rays spreading against the black backdrop of the galaxy, surrounded by many smaller stars.

 

 

Explaining the phenomena, NASA wrote, “On March 11, the NASA Webb Space Telescope team fully aligned the observatory’s mirrors with its primary imager, keeping its optics on track to meet or exceed science goals.”

“We now know we have built the right telescope,” said Ritva Keski-Kuha, deputy optical telescope element manager for Webb at NASA Goddard. First science images are expected in about three months.

While explaining what is happening in the image, NASA further wrote, “While the purpose of this image was to focus on the bright star at the center for alignment evaluation, Webb's optics and NIRCam imager are so sensitive that the galaxies and stars seen in the background show up.”

The space agency further explained, “Each of the primary mirror segments has been adjusted to produce one unified image of the same star using only the NIRCam instrument. A red filter was used to enhance visual contrast.”

Netizens were left swooning over the image, while many commented about the “brilliance” of the glow of the star. One user also called the photo “so gorgeous” while another said that it looks like “an early Diwali.”

On March 11, the @NASAWebb Space Telescope team fully aligned the observatory’s mirrors with its primary imager, keeping its optics on track to meet or exceed science goals. “We now know we have built the right telescope,” said Ritva Keski-Kuha, deputy optical telescope element manager for Webb at @NASAGoddard. First science images are expected in about three months.

So what do we see here? While the purpose of this image was to focus on the bright star at the center for alignment evaluation, Webb's optics and NIRCam imager are so sensitive that the galaxies and stars seen in the background show up. Each of the primary mirror segments have been adjusted to produce one unified image of the same star using only the NIRCam instrument. A red filter was used to enhance visual contrast. The next image shows a new “selfie,” created using a special lens inside of NIRCam. The lens is strictly for engineering purposes.

Once fully operational, Webb will help solve mysteries in our solar system, look beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probe the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program in collaboration with the @EuropeanSpaceAgency and the @CanadianSpaceAgency.

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