A Far Away Star Cluster NGC 281 JAN. 27/2018 High-mass stars are important because they are responsible for much of the energy pumped into a galaxy over its lifetime. Unfortunately, these stars aren’t understood very well because they are usually found relatively far away in places where lots of gas and dust impede our view. This star cluster (NGC 281) however, is an exception since it is far enough away from the plane of our galaxy that not a lot of dust and gas obscure its view. The high-mass

Exploring Star and Planet Formation This animation explores the stages in the formation of stars and planets. Within a large, dense cloud, thousands of protostars collapse due to gravity. The infalling material forms a disk around the protostar, with jets emitted perpendicular to the disk. Planets condense and build up within the disk, establishing a new solar system. The Webb Space Telescope’s infrared observations will peer into these dark clouds and dusty disks to examine this formation proce