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JWST peers deep into the heart of star formation in our Milky Way galaxy

This massive star-forming cloud is working surprisingly fast.

"Webb's powerful infrared instruments provide detail we've never been able to see before, which will help us to understand some of the still-elusive mysteries of massive star formation and why Sagittarius B2 is so much more active than the rest of the galactic center," said study co-author Adam Ginsburg of the University of Florida in a statement. One theory is that powerful, complex magnetic fields that are entwined around the galactic center and its retinue of molecular clouds similar to B2 could play a deciding factor, but the hows and whys there are still to be determined. Meanwhile, the nebulosity across the entire scene has blossomed into life, revealing the true scale of star-birth in the region as each of those bright clouds is being illuminated by the light of very young but massive stars that are still in the process of growing.

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