Webb Space Telescope Captures New Snapshot of Spooky Phantom Galaxy
The European Space Agency has captured an incredible new photo of the Phantom Galaxy using the Webb Space Telescope. Tuesday, the space outfit shared a photo of a galaxy called M74 showing off the spiral galaxy's massive arms winding outwards for some distance. Known as a "grand design spiral," the Phantom Galaxy/M74 features arms that are well-defined and prominent.
"Webb gazed into M74 with its Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI) in order to learn more about the earliest phases of star formation in the local Universe. These observations are part of a larger effort to chart 19 nearby star-forming galaxies in the infrared by the international PHANGS collaboration," the ESA said in a press release.
Feast your eyes on the beautiful spiral structure of the Phantom Galaxy, M74, as seen by Webb in the mid-infrared. Delicate filaments of dust and gas wind outwards from the center of the galaxy, which has a ring of star formation around its nucleus. https://t.co/pPVvxsC6KA pic.twitter.com/JQ2C9Wf19f
— NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb) August 30, 2022
The agency added, "Those galaxies have already been observed using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and ground-based observatories. The addition of crystal-clear Webb observations at longer wavelengths will allow astronomers to pinpoint star-forming regions in the galaxies, accurately measure the masses and ages of star clusters, and gain insights into the nature of the small grains of dust drifting in interstellar space."
The Phantom Galaxy is located some 32 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation Pisces. Because of its angle in relation to Earth, the cosmic spectacle has become a favorite amongst researchers. The ESA attributes citizen scientist Judy Schmidt with providing an earlier photo, which helped the agency with its composite.
"Hubble observations of M74 have revealed particularly bright areas of star formation known as HII regions. Hubble's sharp vision at ultraviolet and visible wavelengths complements Webb's unparalleled sensitivity at infrared wavelengths, as do observations from ground-based radio telescopes such as the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, ALMA," the agency concluded. "By combining data from telescopes operating across the electromagnetic spectrum, scientists can gain greater insight into astronomical objects than by using a single observatory – even one as powerful as Webb!"