{
  "id": 19108844,
  "title": "In a big star-forming nebula, JWST finds the smallest failed stars",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/09/in-a-big-star-forming-nebula-jwst-finds-the-smallest-failed-stars",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-11-09T07:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Big Think",
    "slug": "big-think",
    "url": "https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/star-forming-nebula-jwst-smallest-failed-stars/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In a massive star-forming nebula, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has discovered the smallest failed stars. The Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud contains a dense star cluster called R136 near its center. The most massive star within this cluster, R136a1, is around 260 times the mass of our Sun.\n\nWhen new stars form, they are typically blue supergiants, which shine brightly. In a region just to the right of the central bright cluster in the Pismis 24 image, several stars are visible against a black backdrop. Additionally, the JWST image reveals even more stars and a blue haze caused by neutral hydrogen atoms recombining after being ionized by intense ultraviolet radiation from young surrounding stars.\n\nHowever, there are also fainter, dimmer stars abundant within these regions. Even more interestingly, JWST can detect sub-stellar objects that may outnumber the stars. In the nebulous star cluster Westerlund 2, located 20,000 light-years away in the constellation Carina, cooler brown dwarfs and planetary mass objects as small as a few Jupiter masses can be observed.\n\nJWST's infrared capabilities allow for the detection of these fainter, cooler objects, including brown dwarfs and super-Jupiter objects. In the Carina Nebula's \"cosmic cliffs\" image, JWST's NIRCam and MIRI instruments reveal the infrared glow of gas and dust, enabling the detection of these cooler objects that are otherwise difficult to observe.",
  "summary": "In astronomy, the brightest objects dominate the light we receive. This image shows the central region of the Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The young and dense star cluster R136 can be seen near the center of the image. The tidal forces exerted on the Large Magellanic Cloud by the Milky Way are triggering a wave of star-formation in there, which happens to be the largest…",
  "key_points": [
    "JWST discovers smallest failed stars in Tarantula Nebula",
    "R136 cluster contains R136a1, 260 times Sun's mass",
    "Brown dwarfs and planetary mass objects detected"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}