Webb Telescope Captures ‘Stunning’ Images of 19 Spiral Galaxies

By Will Dunham

WASHINGTON – Recently released images from the James Webb Space Telescope showcase an impressive view of 19 spiral galaxies located relatively close to our own Milky Way. These images provide valuable insights into star formation, as well as the structure and evolution of galaxies.

The images were unveiled on Monday by a scientific team involved in a project known as Physics at High Angular resolution in Nearby GalaxieS (PHANGS), which collaborates across several prominent astronomical observatories.

Among the 19 galaxies, NGC5068 is the nearest to Earth, situated around 15 million light-years away, while NGC1365 is the furthest, at approximately 60 million light-years distant. A light-year represents the distance light travels in one year, which equals about 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion kilometers).

Launched in 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope initiated its data collection in 2022, transforming our understanding of the early universe and capturing captivating images of the cosmos. This space observatory primarily observes the universe in infrared wavelengths, unlike the Hubble Space Telescope, which has been operational since 1990 and primarily examines the universe in optical and ultraviolet waves.

Spiral galaxies, known for their pinwheel-like structure, are one of the most common types of galaxies, with the Milky Way being one of them.

The new observations are the result of data collected by Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), revealing roughly 100,000 star clusters and millions, or possibly billions, of individual stars.

"These data are crucial as they provide a new perspective on the earliest stages of star formation," stated Thomas Williams, an astronomer at the University of Oxford who led the data processing for the images.

"Stars are born within dusty clouds that entirely block visible light—wavelengths to which the Hubble Space Telescope is sensitive. However, these clouds emit light at the wavelengths observed by Webb. Our understanding of this initial phase is limited, including how long it lasts, making this data vital for grasping how stars begin to form within galaxies," Williams added.

Approximately half of spiral galaxies feature a straight structure known as a bar extending from the galactic center, to which the spiral arms are attached.

"The prevailing theory suggests that galaxies form from the inside out, growing larger over time. The spiral arms serve to gather gas that eventually turns into stars, while the bars help funnel this gas toward the central black hole of the galaxy," explained Williams.

These images allow scientists to analyze the structures of the dust and gas clouds that give rise to stars and planets in unprecedented detail, beyond the Large Magellanic Cloud and Small Magellanic Cloud—two galaxies considered satellites of the Milky Way.

"The images are not only visually stunning; they also narrate a story about the cycle of star formation and the feedback process involving energy and momentum released by young stars into the interstellar space," said Janice Lee, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute.

"It appears as though there was explosive activity resulting in the clearing of dust and gas on both cluster and kiloparsec (about 3,000 light-years) scales. This dynamic interplay of the overall star formation cycle is now evident and accessible not just to scientists but to the public, making these images compelling for various audiences," Lee added.

Webb’s observations build upon those from Hubble.

"With Hubble, we could see the starlight from galaxies, but much of it was obscured by dust. This limitation hindered our understanding of how galaxies function as systems. By using Webb’s infrared capabilities, we can penetrate this dust, revealing stars both behind and within the dense clouds," noted Erik Rosolowsky, an astronomer at the University of Alberta.