James Webb Space Telescope Feed Post

NGC 1365 (Hubble + Webb)

Barred spiral galaxy, NGC 1365, is split diagonally in this image: The James Webb Space Telescope’s observations appear on bottom right, and the Hubble Space Telescope’s at top left. 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 and ultraviolet 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/2024/105/01HM9X1D... 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), Rupali Chandar (UToledo), Daniela Calzetti (UMass), PHANGS Team Image description: Two observations of a portion of the galaxy NGC 1365 are split diagonally, with Hubble’s observations at top left and Webb’s at bottom right. The galaxy’s core appears just above center to the left and the galaxy’s bar structure extends horizontally, its slight curve forms a backward S shape. In Hubble’s image, the bar and the beginning of the galaxy’s spiral arms are a mix of dark brown dust lanes and some bright blue star clusters, and a dot at the center of the galaxy’s core is pale yellow. In Webb’s image, the dust lanes that cross the bar are shades of orange, with prominent dark gray or black “bubbles,” and there is a blue haze at the core and bar. Image & Description by NASA