Science Snapshots: Beautiful New Images from James Webb

A less dry science post for today!

Part of being a scientist is having a deep, deep appreciation for your field of study. As much as I hate sitting here day after day writing code, fighting with my computer, discussing policy ad nauseam, dealing with bullshit, and/or writing a paper (I HATE WRITING PAPERS), at the end of the day I love the weather. From the peaceful calm of stepping outside on a warm, still morning to the incredible energy that fills every cell of my body when I'm storm chasing, I both love and am humbled by the weather every day.

That extends really to the entire universe. Trees, animals, rocks, planets, stars, galaxies...we love it all here at the Manor. That's why today we simply step back and appreciate the beauty of our universe with the release of images of 19 spiral galaxies taken by the James Webb Space Telescope.

Via nasa.gov. Observations of nearby spiral galaxies in near-infrared and mid-infrared light. Credit to ASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Janice Lee (STScI), Thomas Williams (Oxford), PHANGS Team, Elizabeth Wheatley (STScI).

So. Many. Stars. View each image in higher detail here.

The images are part of an excellently-acronymed project, the Physics at High Angular resolution in Nearby GalaxieS (PHANGS) program. 

These images will, in part, be used to look into the cycle of star formation. The use of near-infrared and mid-infrared imagery allows us to see the dust the exists between stars along with stars still in the process of forming. 

A surprise in the images (and it seems like everything Webb sends us is full of such surprises) was the presence of large, spherical shells in the gas and dust. These were possibly caused by exploding stars (the end of their life cycle).

It doesn't end there. Evidence suggests that star formation starts at the center of a spiral galaxy and spreads outwards through the arms. In the images above, newer stars will be located in the red/orange colors at the edges of the galaxy and the blue interiors contain older stars. And pink/red spikes may suggest supermassive black holes or large, compact star clusters.

And that's just scratching the surface. There is so much research and analysis to be done just on these images, not to mention all the previous imagery we've received from Webb. The entire community, not just the PHANGS team, will be working for many years to learn everything we can from these beautiful photos.

But in the meantime, just enjoy the view. I, for one, am so thankful to be alive during a time when we get these beautiful detailed views of our incomprehensible universe.

Source: https://science.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/goddard/nasas-webb-depicts-staggering-structure-in-19-nearby-spiral-galaxies/

Source link contains high resolution images of the galaxies and links to download the full resolution images.