The gorgeously spiral M74 Phantom Galaxy was just captured in images by the James Webb Space Observatory, illustrating why it is the finest space telescope ever built by humans. The pictures were released by the European Space Agency.

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) may seem to be a N.A.S.A project because it bears the name of a N.A.S.A administrator. The fact that the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) also participate to the program is lost in the jargon.

Taking Down the Phantom Galaxy

The Phantom Galaxy is 32 million light years away from Earth in the constellation Pisces, facing our planet. This makes it easy to see it as a study object.

Furthermore, the galaxy’s spatial arms make it an appealing object to observe in the sky. There are numerous spiral galaxies in the universe. Their spirals, however, are “patchy and jagged to structures,” according to ESA. The spiral arms of the M74, on the other hand, are conspicuous and well-defined, earning it the moniker “grand design spiral.”

Other observatories, including the ground-based Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, ALMA, have also captured the M74 using sensors capable of both ultraviolet and visible spectrum wavelengths.

JWST’s perspective on the Phantom Galaxy

The JWST just captured images of the Phantom Galaxy M74 using its mid-infrared instrument (MIRI). According to N.A.S.A’s JWST page, the MIRI features a camera and a wavelength range of 5-28 microns. This enables the instrument to capture wide-field, broadband images of faint comets, newly forming stars, and distant galaxies.

The device has made it possible for researchers to see tiny gas and dust filaments in the spiral arms of the galaxy, which branch out from the galaxy’s core. The photo clearly shows the absence of gas in the nuclear zone, giving a good glimpse of the nuclear star cluster.

Prior images of M74 taken by the Hubble Space Telescope reveal dazzling HII regions, or hot, active regions. The new views of the galaxy were produced by ESA researchers by superimposing JWST data on top of these photographs.

ESA claims that the new data from the JWST will aid astronomers in discovering star-forming regions in other galaxies, figuring out the masses and ages of star clusters, and understanding how space dust moves.

Soucre: news.sci-nature.com