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Webb opens a Treasure Chest filled with stars
This NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope Picture of the Month takes us to a fantastical realm within our home galaxy, where piercing starlight and billowing winds sculpt dust clouds into inventive shapes. This scene is from the Carina Nebula, which lies just 7500 light-years away in the constellation Carina (the Keel).
Spanning roughly 260 light-years, the nebula is home to an incredible collection of objects, including the Cosmic Cliffs revealed in the first-ever Webb image release. The Carina Nebula is also the nearest high-mass star-forming region that allows astronomers to study the full range of star formation. This nebula houses some of the most massive stars in our galaxy as well as tens of thousands of protostars, offering a valuable opportunity to understand how stars shape their neighbourhoods.
The feature highlighted in today’s image, aptly called the Treasure Chest, looks right at home in this celestial sculpture garden. The Treasure Chest is what’s known as a cometary globule. A cometary globule is an isolated cloud of gas and dust with a dense, dark head and a sweeping tail. These clouds often somewhat resemble comets, but the Treasure Chest looks distinctly like a wooden chest with its lid wide open.
However, this chest doesn’t contain jewels or gold coins, but instead a compact cluster of young stars. These stars are responsible for the otherworldly glow coming from within the Treasure Chest, revealed by Webb’s sensitive Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam). Researchers estimate that the Treasure Chest’s cluster contains about 70 stars, the most massive of which is a rare O-type star roughly 19 times as massive as the Sun.
The star cluster is likely around 1.3 million years old, though earlier estimates found it to be as young as just 100 000 years old. Because of its youth, the cluster is still deeply embedded within the dusty clouds of the Treasure Chest. The individual stars in the cluster are wrapped up in dust as well; astronomers have found evidence that many of these stars are surrounded by circumstellar discs. Over time, the brilliant starlight from these young stars will dissipate the surrounding cloud and reveal the entire cluster.
The key to the Treasure Chest’s sculptural shape lies outside this image: just 39 light-years to the northwest, as measured on the sky, sits Eta Carinae, the most luminous object in the entire Carina Nebula. Eta Carinae is a star system containing at least two stars, one of which is 100 times as massive as the Sun. This star alone is about 5 million times as luminous as the Sun. Adding to this intense radiation is the nearby star cluster Trumpler 16, which also contains several extremely hot massive stars.
With Webb, astronomers have carried out an observing programme (#5408; PI: Reiter) dedicated to studying how young stars in the Carina Nebula collect gas from their surroundings and expel it through outflows.
[Image Description: A region of space filled with bright stars and clouds of gas. In the centre, the densest clouds form the shape of a chest with its lid open. The chest appears to glow from within. At its base it breaks apart into long pillars of thick gas. Many of the gas clouds in the background are dark orange globules, while others form large, pale hazes. A few brightly shining stars lie in the foreground, the biggest and brightest in front of the chest’s lid.]
Your chance to run software in deep space on ESA's asteroid mission
The European Space Agency is offering European researchers and companies a rare and exciting opportunity to run their innovative software directly in deep space aboard ESA’s Hera mission, millions of kilometres away.
Europe’s forests losing more biomass since 2018
Europe’s forests are losing more biomass than previously thought, with disturbances such as drought and pests causing increasingly large losses from some of the oldest forests in Europe. This situation has deteriorated markedly since 2018.
Total solar eclipse: how to watch live from home
A total solar eclipse is coming to Europe. The European Space Agency (ESA) will broadcast live from 19:30 CEST on 12 August, allowing you to experience this rare event from anywhere in the world.
Quick links:
- Live ESA broadcast on YouTube (12 August, 19:30–20:45 CEST)
- Event programme in León, Spain (12 August, 10:00–14:00 and 17:30–21:45 CEST)
- Overview of all ESA eclipse activities & resources
ESA and Pokémon team up to celebrate World Space Week
The European Space Agency (ESA) and The Pokémon Company International (TPCi) are teaming up to celebrate World Space Week from 4–10 October 2026. This unique, limited-time collaboration brings together two worlds united by curiosity, exploration and imagination.
The journey of Sophie Adenot's bonus food
What does it take to send gourmet food to the International Space Station? Follow ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot's bonus menu from a French kitchen to orbit, where chefs, engineers and food specialists work together to transform traditional recipes into meals that are safe for spaceflight, while preserving the flavours, memories and moments of sharing that make them special.
How to safely watch a solar eclipse
[English]: A solar eclipse is an unforgettable sight, but only if you watch it safely!
ESA reserve astronaut Sara García Alonso shows you how to enjoy this incredible cosmic event using certified eclipse glasses and explains why ordinary sunglasses are not enough.
Learn what happens during the different stages of an eclipse, when it is safe to look up, and how to experience one of the greatest shows in the Solar System without risking your eyes.
[Spanish]: Un eclipse solar es un espectáculo inolvidable, ¡pero solo si lo observas de forma Segura!
El astronauta de reserva de la ESA Pablo Álvarez Fernández te explica cómo disfrutar de este increíble fenómeno cósmico utilizando gafas de eclipse certificadas y por qué unas gafas de sol normales no son suficientes.
Descubre qué ocurre durante las distintas fases de un eclipse, cuándo es seguro mirar al Sol y cómo disfrutar de uno de los mayores espectáculos del Sistema Solar sin poner en Riesgo tu vista.
Week in images: 27-31 July 2026
Week in images: 27-31 July 2026
Discover our week through the lens
This Month at ESA: July 2026
What did space have in store for Europe this July?
The Artemis II crew visited ESA’s technical center in the Netherlands to meet the team behind Orion’s European Service Module, celebrating the colaboration that powered their trip around the Moon. Meanwhile, ESA’s Hera successfully upgraded it’s software fom 140 milliom km away, in preperation for it’s investigation of Dydimos and Dimorphos later this year.
July also saw FLEX and Copernicus Sentinel-3C head to Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana in preperation for their launch this September. Then, the James Webb Space Telescope celebrates four years of sciency with a spectacular new view of the galaxy Centaurus A.
400 km above Earth, Sophie Adenot inaugurated the European Enhanced Exercise Device with rowing, rope-pulling, strength training and more. She also showed us the ISS veggie chamber, and how the space seedlings have been growing. From the cupola, Sophie captured her most impressive footage of Earth’s auroras yet.
Here’s your monthly roundup of everything happening at the European Space Agency.
HydroGNSS data open for new insights into Earth’s water
The European Space Agency's two-satellite HydroGNSS Scout mission has completed commissioning and is now in full scientific operations.
Following extensive testing and validation of the satellites, instruments and ground segment, HydroGNSS data are now freely available to users worldwide, opening new opportunities to advance our understanding of water availability and the impacts of climate change on Earth's water cycle.
Earth from Space: New Orleans and the mighty Mississippi
SMOS salinity could offer early indicator of El Niño
As the Pacific Ocean moves into an El Niño phase, scientists are monitoring changes in sea-surface temperature, but also sea-surface salinity – which is another key indicator of this phenomenon.
Measurements from satellites such as the European Space Agency's SMOS mission are revealing how freshwater and salt patterns shift across the Pacific as this year’s El Niño develops – offering a potential new pathway for early detection.
How Sentinel-1 measured movement of Venezuela quakes
More than one month on from the catastrophic twin earthquakes in northern Venezuela on 24 June 2026, satellite data show the ground displacement was greater than first estimated.
Liftoff as Ariane 6 takes flight for the first time
Raging wildfires near Madrid, Spain
Meet space startups at ESA’s Industry Space Days
Startup companies which have come up with brilliant ideas for using space will join the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Industry Space Days (ISD) event on 16–17 September at ESA-ESTEC in the Netherlands.
Over two days Europe’s space industry will exchange ideas, showcase capabilities, discuss collaboration, and explore opportunities with ESA.
Why total solar eclipses are so special
More than 2500 years ago, a total solar eclipse is said to have ended a war between the Lydians and the Medes. Today, we understand the science behind eclipses, but witnessing one is still one of the most awe-inspiring experiences on Earth.
In this video, discover how solar and lunar eclipses happen, why totality is so rare, and what makes a total solar eclipse so extraordinary. From ancient legends to modern ESA missions studying the Sun's corona, discover the science behind one of nature's greatest spectacles.
Discover more about the three European eclipses of 2026–2028 here.
Earth from Space: Agricultural patchwork
Two new Galileo satellites enter service
Two new satellites have now officially joined Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation constellation, strengthening its capabilities, resilience and autonomy. Four Galileo First Generation satellites remain to be launched, with the next pair planned for the end of the year.
