The James Webb Space Telescope is continuous to ship astonishing photographs of deep area, with this newest one revealing the unbelievable great thing about M74, in any other case often known as the Phantom Galaxy.

The Phantom Galaxy has been captured earlier than by the Hubble Space Telescope, however Webb’s extra highly effective infrared expertise reveals for the primary time its “delicate filaments of gas and dust in the grandiose spiral arms which wind outwards,” as per the European Space Agency (ESA), which is overseeing the Webb mission with NASA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).

The Phantom Galaxy is round 32 million mild years from our planet and in accordance with ESA is “a type of spiral galaxy classified as a ‘grand design spiral’, meaning that its spiral arms are prominent and well-defined, unlike the patchy and ragged structure seen in some spiral galaxies.”

The galaxy is located virtually face-on to Earth, a attribute that provides observers a superb view and due to this fact makes it a favourite for astronomers who’re eager on studying extra in regards to the origin and construction of galactic spirals.

Webb’s present work is a part of an even bigger challenge to map 19 close by star-forming galaxies within the infrared, with Webb’s expertise enabling astronomers to find the exact location of star-forming areas inside these galaxies. ESA says Webb can even assist astronomers to gauge the lots and ages of star clusters, and study extra in regards to the nature of the small grains of mud that drift about in interstellar area.

The James Webb Space Telescope launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on the finish of final yr. Positioned in an orbit about one million miles from Earth, probably the most highly effective area telescope ever constructed has been beaming again dazzling photographs since mid-July, together with this one displaying Jupiter as you’ve by no means seen it earlier than.

But the mission is about much more than capturing photographs of attractive area surroundings, as scientists hope that knowledge from Webb will assist them to study extra in regards to the origins of the universe, and even uncover planets like our personal that might assist life.

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