James Webb Space Telescope Feed Post

NGC 1300 (Hubble + Webb)

Face-on barred spiral galaxy, NGC 1300, is split diagonally in this image: The James Webb Space Telescope’s observations appear at top left, and the Hubble Space Telescope’s on bottom right. Webb and Hubble’s images show a striking contrast, an inverse of darkness and light. Why? Webb’s observations combine near- and mid-infrared light and Hubble’s showcase visible light. Dust absorbs ultraviolet and visible light, and then re-emits it in the infrared. In Webb's images, we see dust glowing in infrared light. In Hubble’s images, dark regions are where starlight is absorbed by dust. In Webb’s high-resolution infrared images, the gas and dust stand out in stark shades of orange and red, and show finer spiral shapes with the appearance of jagged edges, though these areas are still diffuse. In Hubble’s images, the gas and dust show up as hazy dark brown lanes, following the same spiral shapes. Its images are about the same resolution as Webb’s, but the gas and dust obscure a lot of the smaller-scale star formation. More information: webbtelescope.org/contents/media/images/2024/105/01HM9W19... Read the feature: science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasas-webb-depicts-stagger... Full set of images: webbtelescope.org/contents/news-releases/2024/news-2024-1... NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Janice Lee (STScI), Thomas Williams (Oxford), PHANGS Team Image description: Two observations of the galaxy NGC 1300 are split diagonally, with Webb’s observations at top left and Hubble’s at bottom right. The galaxy’s core is centered, connected to a prominent diagonal bar structure. The galaxy’s two distinct spiral arms begin at the end of the bar and rotate counterclockwise. Together, the arm and bars form a backward S shape. In Webb’s image, the bar and spiral arms are composed of many filaments in shades of orange, and are anchored by its central region, which is circular and light yellow. In Hubble’s image, the spiral arms are a mix of bright blue star cluster and dark brown dust lanes, and the bar and core are a pale yellow. Image & Description by NASA