James Webb Space Telescope captures stars in Carina Nebula 'Treasure Chest' due to new imagery

The James Webb Space Telescope has captured a new image of a cosmic structure nicknamed the "Treasure Chest" located within the Carina Nebula, approximately 7,500 light-years away.

The object is identified as a cometary globule—an isolated cloud of gas and dust with a dense head and a long tail. Unlike a typical comet, this structure resembles an open chest, revealing a compact cluster of approximately 70 young stars inside. The light from these stars, detectable via the telescope's Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), pierces through the surrounding dust.

Among the newborn stars is a rare O-type star with a mass roughly 19 times that of the Sun. Researchers estimate the stellar cluster is about 1.3 million years old, significantly older than previous estimates of 100,000 years. Many of these stars are still embedded in dust and surrounded by circumstellar disks, which are precursors to planetary systems. The unique shape of the Treasure Chest is influenced by the nearby Eta Carinae star system, located about 39 light-years away.