The James Webb Space Telescope releases new images. It is a group of 19 beautiful and scientifically valuable spiral galaxies.
On January 29, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) launched a new set of images. It shows in stunning detail 19 spiral galaxies located relatively close to our Milky Way. Provides new evidence about star formation and the structure and evolution of galaxies.
The images were published by a team of scientists involved in a project called Physics of High-Resolution Angle in Nearby Galaxies (PHANGS), which operates at several major astronomical observatories.
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Of the 19 galaxies, the closest to us is NGC5068, which is about 15 million light-years from Earth, and the farthest galaxy is NGC1365, which is about 60 million light-years from Earth.
Spiral galaxies look like giant slugs or spirals. It is a commonly found galaxy. Including our Milky Way Galaxy, which is one of the spiral galaxies.
Images of the 19 spiral galaxies from the Webb Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and Mid-Range Infrared Imager (MIRI) show nearly 100,000 star clusters and millions, if not billions, of stars.
Webb's NIRCam captured millions of stars in these images. Which glows blue. Some stars are spread across spiral arms. But some stars are clustered tightly together in star clusters.
The MIRI data highlighted the dust until it appeared to be glowing. What tells us this is where the dust is found around and between the stars? It also highlights stars that have not yet fully formed. They remain enveloped in gas and dust that fuel their growth.
Janice Lee, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute and one of the PHANGS project scientists, said: “Webb’s new images are extraordinary… they are astonishing even for researchers who have been studying these same galaxies for decades.” Bubbles and fibers can be seen to the smallest size ever. It tells the story of the star formation cycle.
Thomas Williams, an astronomer from the University of Oxford and the team's data processing leader in the images, said: “This information is important. Because it gives us a new perspective on the early stages of star formation.”
He added: “Stars are born deep inside dust clouds that completely block light at visible wavelengths… but these dust clouds appear brighter at Webb wavelengths.” We don't know much about this period. I don't even know how long it will actually last. “This information is therefore important for understanding how stars in our galaxy began.”
About half of spiral galaxies have a linear bar structure. It resembles a rod of gas emerging from the center of the galaxy
Evidence also shows that the galaxy is growing from the inside out. Star formation begins in the core of galaxies and spreads along their arms. It rotates away from the center. The farther a star is from the core of the galaxy, the younger the star is likely to be. On the contrary, the region near the center, highlighted by blue light, is the oldest group of stars.
“Galaxies form from the inside out,” Williams said. “As it grows larger throughout its lifetime, the spiral arms sweep up the gas that will form the star. The plume of gas will pull that same gas toward the black hole at the center of the galaxy.”
The images also allow scientists to review our understanding of the structure of the clouds of dust and gas that form stars and planets.
“These images are not only stunning,” said Janice Lee, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute and one of the PHANGS project scientists. “But it also tells the story of the star formation cycle. This includes the process by which energy and momentum are released by young stars into space.”
“When using Hubble we will see starlight from the galaxy,” said Eric Rozolovsky, an astronomer from the University of Alberta. “But some of the light is blocked by dust clouds.” This limitation makes it difficult to understand some galactic processes. “But with Webb’s infrared imaging, we have We were able to see through this dust cloud to see the stars hiding behind and within the dust cloud.