\n<\/p>\n
This collection of 19 face-on spiral galaxies from the NASA\/ESA\/CSA James Webb Space Telescope in near- and mid-infrared light is at once overwhelming and awe-inspiring. Webb\u2019s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) captured millions of stars in these images. Older stars appear blue here, and are clustered at the galaxies\u2019 cores. The telescope\u2019s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) observations highlight glowing dust, showing where it exists around and between stars \u2013 appearing in shades of red and orange. Stars that haven\u2019t yet fully formed and are encased in gas and dust appear bright red.<\/p>\n
Webb\u2019s high-resolution images are the first to show large, spherical shells in the gas and dust in such exquisite detail. These holes may have been created by stars that exploded and carved out giant regions in the interstellar material.<\/p>\n
Another eye-catching detail? Several galaxy cores are awash in pink-and-red diffraction spikes. These are clear signs that these galaxies may have central active supermassive black holes or central star clusters.<\/p>\n
These spiral galaxies are Webb\u2019s first big batch of contributions to the Physics at High Angular resolution in Nearby GalaxieS (PHANGS) programme, that includes existing images and data from the NASA\/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, the Very Large Telescope\u2019s Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE), and the Atacama Large Millimeter\/submillimeter Array (ALMA). With Webb\u2019s images, researchers can now examine these galaxies in ultraviolet, visible, infrared, and radio light.<\/p>\n
Learn more about what can be seen in this vast collection of Webb images\u00a0here.<\/p>\n
[Image description<\/i>: Nineteen Webb images of face-on spiral galaxies are combined in a mosaic, some within squares, and others horizontal or vertical rectangles. Galaxies\u2019 spiral arms appear in shades of orange, and many of their centres have light blue hazes.]<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n