James Webb Space Telescope - The Phantom Galaxy Across the Spectrum

by Eric Glaser

Title

James Webb Space Telescope - The Phantom Galaxy Across the Spectrum

Artist

Eric Glaser

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Photograph - Digital Photography

Description

"The Phantom Galaxy Across the Spectrum"

M74 shines at its brightest in this combined optical/mid-infrared image, featuring data from both the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope. With Hubble’s venerable Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and Webb’s powerful Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI) capturing a range of wavelengths, this new image has remarkable depth.

The red colors mark dust threaded through the arms of the galaxy, lighter oranges being areas of hotter dust. The young stars throughout the arms and the nuclear core are picked out in blue. Heavier, older stars towards the galaxy’s centre are shown in cyan and green, projecting a spooky glow from the core of the Phantom Galaxy. Bubbles of star formation are also visible in pink across the arms. Such a variety of galactic features is rare to see in a single image. Scientists combine data from telescopes operating across the electromagnetic spectrum to truly understand astronomical objects. In this way, data from Hubble and Webb compliment each other to provide a comprehensive view of the spectacular M74 galaxy.

Image description:

This image shows Webb near-infrared data combined with optical data from Hubble. Lacy red filaments spiraling out of the center of the galaxy are overlaid over a black field speckled with stars. The center of the galaxy glows in a pale color. The red filaments contain pops of bright pink, and some blue stars are visible in the background. The red color is dust, lighter oranges in the dust mean that dust is hotter. The young stars sprinkled through the arms and around the core of the galaxy are blue. Heavier older stars nearer the center of the galaxy are cyan and green and contribute to its glow. The pink pops of color are star forming regions.

Image credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, J. Lee and the PHANGS-JWST Team; ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. Chandar

Acknowledgement: J. Schmidt

Additional image editing by Eric Glaser

Uploaded

December 20th, 2022

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