Webb provides insight into the beginnings of new star: Check out this breathtaking view

This picture from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope shows a protostar within the dark cloud L1527, providing valuable insight into the beginnings of a new star. The protostar itself is hidden from view within the neck of this hourglass of light.

L1527 is only about 100,000 years old and is considered a class 0 protostar - the earliest stage of star formation. Protostars like L1527, which are still cocooned in a dark cloud of dust and gas, have a long way to go before they become full-fledged stars, according to NASA.

In this infrared image, the blazing clouds within the Taurus star-forming region are only visible in infrared light - the wavelengths that the powerful telescope specializes in.

The region's most prevalent features, the clouds colored blue and orange in this image, outline cavities created as material shoots away from the protostar and collides with surrounding matter. The region at the lower right appears blue, as there's less dust between it and Webb than the orange regions above it. Thicker the layer of dust, the less blue light is able to escape, creating pockets of orange.

L1527, according to NASA, doesn't generate its own energy via nuclear fusion of hydrogen yet, an essential characteristic of stars. Its shape is also unstable, taking the form of a small, hot, and puffy clump of gas somewhere between 20 and 40% the mass of our Sun.

Countdown to a new star ⏳Hidden in the neck of this "hourglass" of light are the very beginnings of a new star — a protostar. The clouds of dust and gas within this region are only visible in infrared light, the wavelengths that Webb specializes in: https://t.co/DtazblATMW pic.twitter.com/aGEEBO9BB8

— NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb) November 16, 2022

Webb is the largest, most powerful telescope ever launched into space. The mission is led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency.