(ORDO NEWS) — The powerful James Webb telescope has been operating in space for several months now, peering into the most remote corners of the universe.
The Hubble telescope has been studying space for over 30 years. Both tools were used to create an impressive video of the “Phantom Galaxy” M74.
The galaxy M74, located about 32 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Pisces, is known for its well-defined spiral with prominent arms emerging from the center. General observations of two large space telescopes give a complete picture of the galaxy.
Difference between Hubble and James Webb telescopes
While the 32-year-old Hubble Space Telescope “sees” the universe predominantly in the visible light spectrum, showing the distribution of stars in the galaxy, James Webb focuses on the infrared spectrum, noticing heat-emitting gas and dust accumulating in the galaxy’s spiral arms.
Therefore, general observations allow scientists to create a complete picture of a space object and see all the details in different spectra.
Interesting details of the “Phantom Galaxy”
The results of the joint work of both telescopes are clearly visible in the video. It is possible to view various details and parts of the galaxy as regions in which stars are formed (red bubbles scattered along the spiral arms).
These so-called H II regions are clouds of hydrogen gas glowing in ultraviolet light along with hot young stars inside.
An observation from the James Webb telescope shows a dense cluster of stars at the center of this galaxy, visible in blue colors.
They were conducted with the telescope’s Mid-Infrared Radiation Instrument (MIRI) as part of a campaign of 19 star-forming galaxies in this region of the universe.
According to the European Space Agency (ESA), which released the video, the project is part of an international collaboration called PHANGS, along with observations from the Hubble Telescope and some ground-based telescopes.
The addition of James Webb’s crystal-clear, long-wavelength observations will allow astronomers to pinpoint star-forming regions in galaxies, accurately measure the mass and age of star clusters, and gain insight into the nature of fine dust particles drifting through interstellar space, ESA said.
ESA is NASA‘s partner in the $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope project with the Canadian Space Agency.
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