The Webb Telescope captured images of 19 spiral galaxies near the Milky Way. PHOTO
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Astronomers have published images of 19 spiral galaxies located relatively close to the Milky Way.
These photos in the infrared range were taken by the James Webb space telescope, writes Reuters.
The closest of the 19 galaxies is called NGC5068. It is located approximately 15 million light-years from Earth, and the most distant of them is NGC1365, which is 60 million light-years from Earth.
The images were deciphered by a team of scientists from the Physics at High Angular resolution in Nearby GalaxieS (PHANGS) project.
| Image of all galaxies. Photo: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Janice Lee (STScI), Thomas Williams (Oxford), and the PHANGS team |
“These data are important because they give us a new look at the early phase of star formation.
Stars are born deep in dust clouds that completely block light at visible wavelengths. We don’t know much about this phase, it’s not known for sure how long it lasts, and so this data will be important for understanding how stars in galaxies begin their lives“, – noted Oxford University astronomer and team leader Thomas Williams.
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| A spiral galaxy near the Milky Way |
About half of spiral galaxies have a straight structure, called a bar, extending from the galactic center to which spiral arms are attached.
“The conventional wisdom is that galaxies form from the inside out, so they get bigger over their lifetimes. The spiral arms act to sweep away the star-forming gas, while the bars act to channel that same gas inward toward the galaxy’s central black hole“, the scientist added.
The images allowed scientists to determine for the first time the structure of the clouds of dust and gas from which stars and planets form. The images had a high level of detail in galaxies outside the Large Magellanic Cloud and the Small Magellanic Cloud, two galaxies that are considered galactic companions to the Milky Way.
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| Scientists study spiral galaxies |
“The images are not only aesthetically stunning, they also tell the story of the star formation cycle and feedback, the energy and momentum released by young stars into the space between them.
The dynamic process of the general cycle of star formation becomes obvious and qualitatively accessible even to the public. It makes images compelling on many different levelsJanice Lee, an astronomer from the Space Telescope Science Institute, said.
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| Close-up of spiral galaxies |
Read also: The Webb telescope recorded a huge “star factory” located in a nearby galaxy. PHOTO
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