The Orion Bar Region | Messier 42 | James Webb Space Telescope van Deep Field

In the heart of the Orion Nebula, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has revealed a molecule that could play an important role in the chemistry of future planetary systems. Astronomers detected methyl cation (CH₃⁺) for the first time within a protoplanetary disc around a young star, a molecule whose importance to interstellar carbon chemistry has been predicted for decades.

The region shown here, known as the Orion Bar, is intensely illuminated by ultraviolet radiation from the nearby Trapezium Cluster. This powerful radiation sculpts the surrounding gas and dust, creating glowing filaments, cavities and protoplanetary discs known as proplyds.

Webb’s NIRCam, MIRI and NIRSpec instruments allow scientists to study the chemistry of these young planetary systems by analysing the light emitted by their molecules. The environment is both visually spectacular and scientifically significant, offering a glimpse of the complex chemistry taking place as stars and planets begin to form.

The image is presented with a scientific information layer that adds context to the astronomical object, including its name, classification, distance from Earth, constellation, field of view, and the filters used to create the image. The filter information is visualized with colours according to the JWST naming convention for their bands.

The artwork is created from the highest-resolution source material published by ESA/Webb and is suitable for large-format printing.