Using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, researchers are seeing, for the first time, star formation, gas and dust in nearby galaxies in unprecedented infrared resolution. These data led to the first collection of 21 research papers that provide new insights into how some of the smallest processes in our universe – the beginning of star formation – affect the evolution of the largest objects in our universe: galaxies.

Webb’s largest study of nearby galaxies in its first year of scientific activity is being conducted in collaboration with High Angular Resolution Physics in Near Galaxies (PHANGS), which includes more than 100 researchers from around the world. Webb’s observations are led by Janice Lee, principal scientist at the Gemini Observatory at the National Science Foundation’s NOIRLab and an affiliated astronomer at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

The team is studying a diverse sample of 19 spiral galaxies, and five of these targets – M74, NGC 7496, IC 5332, NGC 1365 and NGC 1433 – were observed during the first few months of Webb’s science operations. The results have already impressed astronomers

“We were absolutely amazed by the clarity we were able to see the fine structure,” said team member David Tilker of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. “We can directly see how the energy from the formation of young stars is affecting the gas around them, and that’s great,” said team member Eric Rosolowski of the University of Alberta, Canada.

Images from the Webb Intermediate Infrared Instrument (MIRI) show the presence of a network of highly structured features in these galaxies—massive, cavernous gas bubbles surrounding bright dust voids and spiral arms. In some regions of the nearest observed galaxies, this network of elements consists of both separate and overlapping shells and bubbles from which young stars release energy.

“Fields that were completely dark in the Hubble images are illuminated in extraordinary detail in these new infrared images, allowing us to examine how dust in the interstellar medium absorbs light from the formed stars and re-emits it in infrared, illuminating the complex.” “The gas and dust network,” said team member Karin Sandstrom of the University of California, San Diego.

When analyzing Webb’s new data, the scientists were able to identify about 60 new candidate clusters in NGC 7496. These newly identified clusters may be among the youngest stars in the entire galaxy.

NGC 7496, a barred spiral galaxy, has an active galactic nucleus (AGN) at its center. AGN is another way of referring to an active supermassive black hole emitting jets and winds. It shines quite brightly in the center of Webb’s image. Additionally, Webb’s extreme sensitivity detects various background galaxies that appear green or red in some cases.

“The PHANGS team has spent years observing these galaxies in optical, radio, and ultraviolet light using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, and the Very Large Telescope’s Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer,” said team member Adam LeRoy. . Ohio State University. “But the early stages of a star’s life cycle are overlooked because the process is obscured by clouds of gas and dust.”

Webb’s powerful infrared capabilities can eliminate dust to assemble missing puzzle pieces.

For example, certain wavelengths observed by the MIRI (7.7 and 11.3 microns) and the Webb Near Infrared Camera (3.3 microns) are susceptible to the emission of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which play a critical role in the formation of stars and planets. These molecules were discovered by Webb in the first observations of the PHANGS program. Studying these interactions at the tiniest scales can help us understand the bigger picture of how galaxies evolve over time.