All images: NASA
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has captured breathtaking images of 19 nearby spiral galaxies. Near- and mid-infrared images show off every facet of these face-on spiral galaxies.
Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) captured millions of stars in these images, which sparkle in blue tones. Some stars are spread throughout the spiral arms, but others are clumped tightly together in star clusters.
These 19 images are part of a large, long-standing project, the Physics at High Angular Resolution in Nearby GalaxieS (PHANGS) programme, which is supported by more than 150 astronomers worldwide.
Janice Lee, project scientist for strategic initiatives at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, said news images of the nearby galaxies were extraordinary. “They’re mind-blowing even for researchers who have studied these same galaxies for decades. Bubbles and filaments are resolved down to the smallest scales ever observed, and tell a story about the star formation cycle,” Lee said.