Almost exactly a year ago, when NASA released the first photos from the James Webb Space Telescope, President Biden declared in a speech, “These images are going to remind the world that America can do big things, and then remind the American people, especially our children, that there’s nothing beyond our capacity.”
I agree with the sentiment. There are very few things about which Americans can agree, but we all live under the same moon and stars; it’s genuinely wonderful that scientific resources have been devoted to exploring the far reaches of the universe and expanding humanity’s understanding of the cosmos. I recalled Biden’s remarks again this week upon marveling at the newly released image of the birth of stars in the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex:
The image was released to celebrate one year since scientists began collecting data from the telescope. The Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex is one of the closest star-forming regions to our solar system, about 400 light-years away. Per NASA:
The darkest areas are the densest, where thick dust cocoons still-forming protostars. Huge bipolar jets of molecular hydrogen, represented in red, dominate the image, appearing horizontally across the upper third and vertically on the right. These occur when a star first bursts through its natal envelope of cosmic dust, shooting out a pair of opposing jets into space like a newborn first stretching her arms out into the world.
Pretty neat.
But as with everything else in America, there is a more depressing element at play. The images were made possible by the Department of Defense’s procurement of beryllium and its continued promotion of the military-industrial complex. Still, looking at this image almost makes me forget that I no longer have the constitutional right to an abortion. No one has ever accused the United States of being bad at marketing.
