FAST FACTS
What it is: Nebula PMR 1, also known as “Exposed Cranium”
Where is it: 5000 light years away in the constellation Vela
When it was shared: 25 February 2026.
The mighty one The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has revealed details of a never-before-seen cosmic “cranium” made from the glowing remains of a dying star.
This brain object, called PMR 1, is a planetary nebula – an expanding shell of ionized gas and dust ejected by a star in the final stages of its evolution, when the nuclear fuel in its core is exhausted. It was first discovered in 2014 by the Spitzer Space Telescope (a predecessor of JWST), but has been little studied until now.
The colorful cloud is said to resemble a brain encased in a transparent skull, which has led it to be dubbed the “Exposed Cranium” nebula.
The new image comes in two parts, taken with different instruments: the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) on the left and the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) on the right. By observing the object at different wavelengths, JWST can reveal intricate details that were previously invisible, according to NASA.
The NIRCam image shows the nebula’s outer bubble with a bright white edge, while the inner clouds glow orange. It highlights a distinctive dark path that cuts vertically through the middle, creating the illusion of two hemispheres, like a brain. Stars and distant background galaxies are also visible through the nebula’s outer shell in near-infrared light.
Things look different in the MIRI image, where mid-infrared light shows an outer bubble that appears bluish with a hint of purple. The glowing clouds in the nebula appear thicker and more complex, while the central dark path is less visible because it is partially obscured by dust and gas.
The dark orbit is a good example of why Webb’s ability to see the universe in multiple wavelengths of light is so valuable to astronomers. While the dark streak is much easier to see in the NIRCam image, it appears to be more closely related to twin bursts of gas at the top and bottom of the nebula, as shown in the MIRI image. Together, the two images paint a more complete picture of exactly what is going on in this cosmic skull.
The images also provide an insight into several stages of the star’s evolution, with an outer shell of hydrogen gas ejected earlier in the star’s life and inner clouds of a mixture of gases and dust ejected more recently.
What will eventually happen to the star at the center of PMR 1 depends on its mass: it will either explode as a supernova or continue to shed layers, leaving behind a dense, shrunken core known as a white dwarf star.
