Nasa James Webb Space Telescope gazes into a galactic garden of budding stars

 

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has captured a stunning image of the galaxy M83 (NGC 5236) using its Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI). M83 is a barred spiral galaxy located about 15 million light-years from Earth and is of particular interest to astronomers studying star formation.

The image reveals various features of M83:

• Bright blue regions in the center of the galaxy indicate areas with dense concentrations of stars.
• Bright yellow tendrils extending from the center represent stellar nurseries, where new stars are actively forming.
• Orange-red splashes mark regions rich in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, carbon-based compounds that MIRI's wavelengths are well-suited to detect.

This stunning spiral isn’t a gateway to the abyss. It’s the galaxy M83, as seen through the eyes of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). More specifically, the spaceborne observatory captured this image by tapping into one of its powerful infrared devices, the  Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI).

Also known as NGC 5236, M83 is a barred spiral galaxy located about 15 million light-years from us. It's of particular interest to astronomers trying to learn more about star formation. The James Webb Space Telescope's MIRI is their current tool of choice in that quest because, as its name suggests, it observes the universe through infrared wavelengths between 5,000 and 28,000 nanometers. (By comparison, visible light, or the light human eyes are built to see, has wavelengths between 380 and 750 nanometers.)

This observation of M83 is part of the Feedback in Emerging Extragalactic Star Clusters (FEAST) program, which aims to understand the connection between star formation and stellar feedback in galaxies. Stellar feedback refers to the process in which stars release matter and energy as they form.
By studying this relationship, astronomers can refine their models to gain a better understanding of how stars are born and how they evolve. The FEAST program will include observations of a total of six galaxies, with previous observations, including the galaxy M51, conducted using JWST.