NGC 1672 (Hubble + Webb)
Face-on spiral galaxy, NGC 1672, 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, those 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/2024/105/01HMA3MM...
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), PHANGS Team
Image description: Two observations of the galaxy NGC 1672 are split diagonally, with Hubble’s observations at top left and Webb’s at bottom right. The galaxy’s core appears right of center, only in the Webb portion of the image. A roughly horizontal bar structure connects to two prominent spiral arms that appear to rotate clockwise. In Hubble’s image, the spiral arms are a mix of bright blue star clusters and dark brown dust lanes. In Webb’s image, the bar and spiral arms are made of many filaments in shades of orange, with prominent dark gray or black “bubbles.” The galaxy’s core has a prominent yellow circle with a blue dot in the middle.
NGC 1672 (Hubble + Webb)
Face-on spiral galaxy, NGC 1672, 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, those 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/2024/105/01HMA3MM...
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), PHANGS Team
Image description: Two observations of the galaxy NGC 1672 are split diagonally, with Hubble’s observations at top left and Webb’s at bottom right. The galaxy’s core appears right of center, only in the Webb portion of the image. A roughly horizontal bar structure connects to two prominent spiral arms that appear to rotate clockwise. In Hubble’s image, the spiral arms are a mix of bright blue star clusters and dark brown dust lanes. In Webb’s image, the bar and spiral arms are made of many filaments in shades of orange, with prominent dark gray or black “bubbles.” The galaxy’s core has a prominent yellow circle with a blue dot in the middle.