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NASA'S WEBB DEPICTS STAGGERING STRUCTURE IN 19 NEARBY SPIRAL GALAXIES

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January 29, 2024 10:00AM (EST)Release ID: 2024-105

In This Release

In This Release
 * Summary
 * Full Article
 * About This Release
 * Images


SUMMARY

A new treasure trove of Webb images has arrived! Near- and mid-infrared images
show off every facet of these face-on spiral galaxies.

Humanity has spent centuries mapping Earth’s features – and we frequently repeat
the process by using more advanced instruments. When we combine the data, we get
a more complete understanding of our planet.

Now, look outward into space. Astronomers have observed nearby, face-on spiral
galaxies for decades. Both space- and ground-based telescopes have contributed
to a cache of data in wavelengths from radio to ultraviolet light. Astronomers
have long planned to use NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to obtain the highest
resolution near- and mid-infrared images ever taken of these galaxies, and today
they are publicly available.

Everyone can explore Webb’s newest set of exquisite images, which show stars,
gas, and dust on small scales beyond our own galaxy. Teams of researchers are
studying these images to uncover the origins of these intricate structures. The
research community’s collective analysis will ultimately inform theorists’
simulations, and advance our understanding of star formation and the evolution
of spiral galaxies.



FULL ARTICLE

Webb’s Stunning Collection of 19 Face-On Spiral Galaxies 



It’s oh-so-easy to be absolutely mesmerized by these spiral galaxies. Follow
their clearly defined arms, which are brimming with stars, to their centers,
where there may be old star clusters and – sometimes – active supermassive black
holes. Only NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope can deliver highly detailed scenes
of nearby galaxies in a combination of near- and mid-infrared light – and a set
of these images was publicly released today.

These Webb images are part of a large, long-standing project, the Physics at
High Angular resolution in Nearby GalaxieS (PHANGS) program, which is supported
by more than 150 astronomers worldwide. Before Webb took these images, PHANGS
was already brimming with data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, the European
Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope’s Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer,
and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, including observations in
ultraviolet, visible, and radio light. Webb’s near- and mid-infrared
contributions have provided several new puzzle pieces.

“Webb’s new images are extraordinary,” said Janice Lee, a project scientist for
strategic initiatives at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore.
“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.”

Excitement rapidly spread throughout the team as the Webb images flooded in. “I
feel like our team lives in a constant state of being overwhelmed – in a
positive way – by the amount of detail in these images,” added Thomas Williams,
a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.


FOLLOW THE SPIRAL ARMS

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. 

The telescope’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) data highlights glowing dust,
showing us where it exists around and between stars. It also spotlights stars
that haven’t yet fully formed – they are still encased in the gas and dust that
feed their growth, like bright red seeds at the tips of dusty peaks. “These are
where we can find the newest, most massive stars in the galaxies,” said Erik
Rosolowsky, a professor of physics at the University of Alberta in Edmonton,
Canada.

Something else that amazed astronomers? Webb’s images show large, spherical
shells in the gas and dust. “These holes may have been created by one or more
stars that exploded, carving out giant holes in the interstellar material,”
explained Adam Leroy, a professor of astronomy at the Ohio State University in
Columbus.

Now, trace the spiral arms to find extended regions of gas that appear red and
orange. “These structures tend to follow the same pattern in certain parts of
the galaxies,” Rosolowsky added. “We think of these like waves, and their
spacing tells us a lot about how a galaxy distributes its gas and dust.” Study
of these structures will provide key insights about how galaxies build,
maintain, and shut off star formation.


DIVE INTO THE INTERIOR

Evidence shows that galaxies grow from inside out – star formation begins at
galaxies’ cores and spreads along their arms, spiraling away from the center.
The farther a star is from the galaxy’s core, the more likely it is to be
younger. In contrast, the areas near the cores that look lit by a blue spotlight
are populations of older stars.

What about galaxy cores that are awash in pink-and-red diffraction spikes?
“That’s a clear sign that there may be an active supermassive black hole,” said
Eva Schinnerer, a staff scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in
Heidelberg, Germany. “Or, the star clusters toward the center are so bright that
they have saturated that area of the image.”


RESEARCH GALORE

There are many avenues of research that scientists can begin to pursue with the
combined PHANGS data, but the unprecedented number of stars Webb resolved are a
great place to begin. “Stars can live for billions or trillions of years,” Leroy
said. “By precisely cataloging all types of stars, we can build a more reliable,
holistic view of their life cycles.”

In addition to immediately releasing these images, the PHANGS team has also
released the largest catalog to date of roughly 100,000 star clusters. “The
amount of analysis that can be done with these images is vastly larger than
anything our team could possibly handle,” Rosolowsky emphasized. “We’re excited
to support the community so all researchers can contribute.”

Don’t miss the images below: Webb’s images are split with those of the same
galaxies taken by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.

The James Webb Space Telescope is the world's premier space science observatory.
Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds
around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our
universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with
its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency.


ABOUT THIS RELEASE


CREDITS

MEDIA CONTACT

Claire Blome
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Maryland

Christine Pulliam
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Maryland

SCIENCE

Janice Lee (STScI)


PERMISSIONS

Content Use Policy


KEYWORDS



 * Galaxies
 * Nearby Galaxies




CONTACT US

Direct inquiries to the News Team.



RELATED LINKS AND DOCUMENTS

 * Access These Images on the MAST Archive
 * "PHANGS-JWST: Data Processing Pipeline and First Full Public Data Release" by
   T. Williams et al.
 * PHANGS Website for Researchers
 * The Max Planck Institute for Astronomy Press Release
 * The Insubria University Press Release
 * The University of Toledo Press Release
 * Related Release: NASA’s Webb Reveals Intricate Networks of Gas and Dust in
   Nearby Galaxies


IMAGES

 * Webb’s Stunning Collection of 19 Face-On Spiral Galaxies 
   
   

 * Webb and Hubble’s Views of Spiral Galaxy IC 5332
   
   

 * Webb and Hubble’s Views of Spiral Galaxy NGC 628
   
   

 * Webb and Hubble’s Views of Spiral Galaxy NGC 1087
   
   

 * Webb and Hubble’s Views of Spiral Galaxy NGC 1300
   
   

 * Webb and Hubble’s Views of Spiral Galaxy NGC 1365
   
   

 * Webb and Hubble’s Views of Spiral Galaxy NGC 1385
   
   

 * Webb and Hubble’s Views of Spiral Galaxy 1433
   
   

 * Webb and Hubble’s Views of Spiral Galaxy NGC 1512
   
   

 * Webb and Hubble’s Views of Spiral Galaxy NGC 1566
   
   

 * Webb and Hubble’s Views of Spiral Galaxy NGC 1672
   
   

 * Webb and Hubble’s Views of Spiral Galaxy NGC 2835
   
   

 * Webb and Hubble’s Views of Spiral Galaxy NGC 3351
   
   

 * Webb and Hubble’s Views of Spiral Galaxy NGC 3627
   
   

 * Webb and Hubble’s Views of Spiral Galaxy NGC 4254
   
   

 * Webb and Hubble’s Views of Spiral Galaxy NGC 4303
   
   

 * Webb and Hubble’s Views of Spiral Galaxy NGC 4321
   
   

 * Webb and Hubble’s Views of Spiral Galaxy NGC 4535
   
   

 * Webb and Hubble’s Views of Spiral Galaxy NGC 5068
   
   

 * Webb and Hubble’s Views of Spiral Galaxy NGC 7496
   
   

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Way Center Miscellaneous Moons Multimission Multiwavelength Nearby Galaxies
Nebulas Neptune Neutron Stars Planetary Atmospheres/Weather Planetary Nebulas
Planetary Rings Planets Protostars Pulsars Red Dwarf Stars Reflection Nebulas
Saturn Small Solar System Bodies Solar System Spectroscopy Spiral Galaxies Star
Clusters Star Forming Regions Stars Stellar Disks Stellar Jets Supernova
Remnants Supernovae Survey Universe Uranus Webb Mission White Dwarfs en Español


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