See The Eerily Beautiful Image James Webb Captured Of A Spiral Galaxy

When astronomers look at the galaxy known as IC 5332, they often see a thick, dusty spiral. But the powerful James Webb Space Telescope pointed its high-tech instruments at the galaxy, giving scientists an "unprecedented" look at its complex structure, the European Space Agency (ESA) said on Tuesday.

More than 29 million light-years from Earth, this highly detailed image of IC 5332 is the latest in a series of stunning pictures taken by the 10 Billion Light-Year Telescope launched last December. The project is a collaboration between NASA, ESA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).

IC 5332 is about 66,000 light-years away, about two-thirds the distance from the Milky Way galaxy. It points directly from Earth, giving astronomers a good view of the galaxy's spiral arms.

To focus on IC 5332, Webb used a mid-infrared instrument (MIRI) that can detect wavelengths in the 5 to 28 micron range, too long for the human eye. This highly specialized device has special requirements to perform its work, in particular, it must be very cold. It must operate at -266 degrees Celsius (-447 degrees Fahrenheit), just 7 degrees Celsius below absolute zero.

To keep MIRI at the right temperature, engineers have equipped the device with a unique cooling system. The MIRI must be supercooled to reduce the "noise" of other infrared rays that can make images grainy. The rest of the grid is also cold, but not as cold as MIRI, which is 33 degrees Celsius cooler than the rest of the observatory.

According to ESA, "This impressive image clearly shows the extra effort that has gone into ensuring that the MRI detectors have the necessary cooling means to function properly."

Using the Hubble telescope's wide-field camera, he took an image of Galaxy 3. If you look at the pictures taken by the two telescopes side by side, you can easily see the differences.

Hubble's ultraviolet and visible images show the different colors of young and old stars, as well as areas of cosmic dust. Webb, on the other hand, could see through the dust and see patterns of gas scattered throughout the galaxy, which, according to the ESA, were "a continuous composite mixture that follows the shape of spiral arms."

As NASA pointed out on Twitter, the Webb image is "dark and dense" and shows the "bones" of the galaxy.

"Space, but make it Gothic!" The agency posted on Twitter.

The two images show different stars because some stars appear brighter when viewed at different wavelengths: ultraviolet, visible, and infrared.

According to ESA, "The images complement each other well and each one tells us more about the structure and composition of IC 5332."

Astronomers Astronomy James Webb Space Telescope NASA Space Telescope

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