Our universe is, in many ways, the largest 3D printer of them all. It doesn’t necessarily build things up layer by layer, but it does build up materials, element by element.

In the latest image released by the JWST, researchers captured solar system-sized details in the relatively nearby Orion Nebula. Located 1,350 light-years away, this region of dust, gas, and young stars allows us to see what the region our own Sun formed in may have looked like. This image was obtained for a team that includes Edwin Bergin, who explains: We hope to gain understanding about the entire cycle of star birth. In this image, we are looking at this cycle where the first generation of stars is essentially irradiating the material for the next generation. The incredible structures we observe will detail how the feedback cycle of stellar birth occurs in our galaxy and beyond.

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PDRs4All press release

James Webb Space Telescope spots baby stars cocooned in the Orion Nebula (Space.com)