Star and planet formation is a messy affair. It starts with the gravitational collapse of a gigantic cloud of gas and dust, which simultaneously produces massive stars, whose intense radiation field creates a harsh environment, as well as more modest stars, like our Sun, surrounded by a planet-forming disk that is rich in organic materials.
Western University astrophysicists Els Peeters and Jan Cami and postdoctoral and graduate researchers Ryan Chown, Ameek Sidhu, Baria Khan, Sofia Pasquini, and Bethany Schefter were among the first scientists in the world to use the James Webb space telescope (Webb) for scientific research, and the focus was star formation.
