A new collection of images from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope was recently released, showing incredibly detailed views of spiral galaxies in near- and mid-infrared light. Comparing these new images with previous views seen by NASA’s other space telescope, Hubble, in visible and ultraviolet light, reveals new galactic structures and elements. The infrared images from JWST highlight the glowing lanes and clouds of dust lying within the spiral arms of each galaxy. These JWST images are part of a long-standing project called the Physics at High Angular resolution in Nearby GalaxieS (PHANGS) program. Gathered below are a dozen of these new views combined with older ones from Hubble.
New Galactic Images From the James Webb Space Telescope
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![A combination of two halves of different images of the same spiral galaxy, showing bright, streaked lanes of stars, gas, and dust]()
Read moreA face-on view of spiral galaxy NGC 1566, split diagonally in this combination image. The image from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) appears at upper right, and the Hubble Space Telescope’s at lower left. The JWST image shows galaxies in near- and mid-infrared light, compared with Hubble’s view, which shows visible and ultraviolet light. In the JWST image, dust glows in infrared light, whereas Hubble shows dark regions where the starlight is absorbed by dust. #
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Janice Lee, STScI, Thomas Williams, PHANGS Team -
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![A combination of two halves of different images of the same spiral galaxy]()
Read moreA combination image of spiral galaxy NGC 4321, seen by JWST in infrared (bottom), and by Hubble (top) in visible and ultraviolet light. NGC 4321 lies about 55 million light-years away from Earth. #
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Janice Lee, STScI, Thomas Williams, PHANGS Team -
![A combination of two halves of different images of the same spiral galaxy]()
Read moreA combination image of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1672, seen by JWST in infrared (right), and by Hubble (left) in visible and ultraviolet light #
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Janice Lee, STScI, Thomas Williams, PHANGS Team -
![A combination of two halves of different images of the same spiral galaxy]()
Read moreA combination image of the spiral galaxy NGC 1087, seen by JWST in infrared (lower right), and by Hubble (upper left) in visible and ultraviolet light #
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Janice Lee, STScI, Thomas Williams, PHANGS Team -
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![A combination of two halves of different images of the same spiral galaxy]()
Read moreA combination image of the spiral galaxy NGC 3627, seen by JWST in infrared (right), and by Hubble (left) in visible and ultraviolet light. NGC 3627 lies about 31 million light-years away from Earth. #
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Janice Lee, STScI, Thomas Williams, PHANGS Team -
![A combination of two halves of different images of the same spiral galaxy]()
Read moreA combination image of the large spiral galaxy NGC 628, seen by JWST in infrared (bottom), and by Hubble (top) in visible and ultraviolet light #
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Janice Lee, STScI, Thomas Williams, PHANGS Team -
![A combination of two halves of different images of the same spiral galaxy]()
Read moreA combination image of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 3351, seen by JWST in infrared (bottom left), and by Hubble (top right) in visible and ultraviolet light #
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Janice Lee, STScI, Thomas Williams, PHANGS Team -
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![A combination of two halves of different images of the same spiral galaxy]()
Read moreA combination image of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1300, seen by JWST in infrared (top), and by Hubble (bottom) in visible and ultraviolet light. NGC 1300 is about 110,000 light-years in diameter. #
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Janice Lee, STScI, Thomas Williams, PHANGS Team -
![A combination of two halves of different images of the same spiral galaxy]()
Read moreA combination image of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1365, seen by JWST in infrared (right), and by Hubble (left) in visible and ultraviolet light #
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Janice Lee, STScI, Thomas Williams, PHANGS Team -
![A combination of two halves of different images of the same spiral galaxy]()
Read moreA combination image of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1512, seen by JWST in infrared (left), and by Hubble (right) in visible and ultraviolet light #
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Janice Lee, STScI, Thomas Williams,, PHANGS Team -
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![A combination of two halves of different images of the same spiral galaxy]()
Read moreA combination image of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 4535, seen by JWST in infrared (bottom), and by Hubble (top) in visible and ultraviolet light #
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Janice Lee, STScI, Thomas Williams, PHANGS Team -
![A combination of two halves of different images of the same spiral galaxy]()
Read moreA combination image of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 4303, seen by JWST in infrared (left), and by Hubble (right) in visible and ultraviolet light. NGC 4303 lies about 45 million light-years away from our galaxy. #
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Janice Lee, STScI, Thomas Williams, PHANGS Team
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