Morpheus

From NASA's Curious Universe

How Webb Illuminates Stars’ Cloudy Origins

Published
September 30, 2025
Length
22:43

Audio is streamed from the publisher.

Show notes

In the space between stars, dark clouds of gas, dust, and ice mingle in a chemical laboratory unlike any on Earth. Ewine van Dishoeck, an astronomer who studies molecules in space and who helped develop an instrument aboard NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, explains how Webb is revealing new details about the formation of stars and planets. This research could help unlock a key question about Earth: how did our planet end up with water and the ingredients for life?