New Galactic Images From the James Webb Space Telescope

A dozen combination views of spiral galaxies captured by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and Hubble Space Telescope

A combination of two halves of different images of the same spiral galaxy, showing bright, streaked lanes of stars, gas, and dust
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Janice Lee, STScI, Thomas Williams, PHANGS Team

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.