The James Webb Telescope has captured new images of spiral galaxies. This new series of images shows clouds of dust and gas and many clustered stars.
The “arms” of this spiral galaxy are full of stars. If you follow those strings to the center of the galaxy, you'll also encounter black holes and more than 100,000 star clusters. Those are the stars clustered together.
Using special infrared light, the James Webb Telescope can capture detailed images of these spiral galaxies.
“The images provided new pieces of the puzzle,” physicists say. Millions of stars have been recorded, some colored blue, others red or orange.
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Colors may say something about the age of stars
The images also show immature stars. They are, for example, enveloped in gas and dust. To the surprise of astronomers, large spherical shells that may have formed as a result of exploding stars can also be seen.
There is evidence that galaxies grow from the inside out. Star formation begins in the core of these galaxies and spreads along their arms, creating a spiral shape. So stars farther from the center tend to be younger than stars closer to the center. The blue-colored regions near the core are composed of older stars.
Teams of researchers are studying the images to determine the origins of these spiral galaxies. This analysis should lead to a greater understanding of star formation and the evolution of spiral galaxies.
