NGC 346, which appears to be the Milky Way's raven, was captured in mid-infrared light by the James Webb Space Telescope on a gloomy midnight.

The eerie blue tendrils that make up this raven represent dusty silicates and sooty chemical molecules, while the red glow represents hot dust heated by the brightest and most massive stars in the heart of the region. This region is also full of baby stars still buried in their dusty cocoons.

NGC 346 is part of the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. It has a composition much closer to galaxies in the early universe and contains fewer heavy elements. Therefore, scientists did not expect much cosmic dust composed of heavy elements. However, both Webb's new mid-infrared view of NGC 346 and past near-infrared images show plenty of dust.

Image descriptions

1. In the lower half of the image there are arcs of bluish material forming a boat-like shape. One end of these arcs points to the upper right, while the other end points to the lower left. Another plume of blue filaments extends from the centre to the top left, resembling the mast of a sailboat. Inside and beyond the hull shape are translucent pink curtains that appear above the hull shape and cover most of the image. There are very few stars. A few dozen bright pink patches with six short diffraction spikes are scattered in the blue filaments. Many pale blue dots or stars speckle the black or dark grey background.

2. Same image, but with a bird shape superimposed on the blue filaments. The arcs of blue material in the lower half form the body of the bird, as well as the head and beak in the lower left corner. The arc ending at the top right forms the bird's tail or wing. The feather extending from the centre to the upper left also resembles a wing.