Exquisite images of 19 spiral galaxies captured by Webb Telescope expand research horizons
A new set of images captured by the James Webb Space Telescope reveals remarkable details of 19 spiral galaxies adjacent to our own Milky Way, providing new clues about stellar composition and the structure and evolution of the Milky Way. The closest of the 19 galaxies is called NGC 5068, about 15 million light-years away from Earth, and the most distant is NGC 1365, about 60 million light-years away. One light year is the distance that light travels in one year, which is about 9.5 trillion kilometers.
“These data are important as they give us a new view on the earliest phase of star formation,” said University of Oxford astronomer Thomas Williams, who led the team’s data processing on the images. The images allow scientists to accurately analyze for the first time the architecture of the cosmic clouds of dust and gas that form stars and planets in galaxies beyond the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. The two clouds are considered satellite galaxies of the vast Milky Way.
The release of these images has broadened scientists’ research horizons and is expected to lead to new discoveries about star formation, galactic structure, and evolution. The Webb Telescope continues to provide valuable insights into the universe, opening up new avenues for exploration and understanding.