The bouldering veteran and newbie have teamed up to produce a spectacular image of the phantom galaxy.
The European Space Agency posted a new photo Monday capturing the heart of Messier 74, located 32 million light-years away in the constellation Pisces. It is a view that combines the The Hubble Space Telescopestrong vision at ultraviolet and visible wavelengths with the James Webb Space Telescopeunprecedented sensitivity to infrared wavelengths.
“By combining data from telescopes operating across the entire electromagnetic spectrum, scientists can better understand astronomical objects than using a single observatory – even one as powerful as Webb,” the space agency said.
M74 is made up of about 100 billion stars and two symmetrical “arms”. It belongs to a subclass of spiral galaxies known as “large design spiral“, which means that it has prominent and well-defined arms, whereas some other galaxies are not so clear.
Its characteristics make it a “favorite target” of astronomers, specifies the space agency.
Launched in 1990, Hubble has spent decades sending breathtaking images back to Earth, exponentially expanding our understanding of the cosmos. The Webb Telescope, the most expensive scientific probe ever built, spear this year alone, for the purpose of studying the origins of the universe.
Webb has already returned the most detailed pictures of space seen to date, and scientists are eager to combine its findings with past revelations to continue to piece together the history of our universe.
Webb’s superior technology beautifully reveals the gas and dust escaping from the heart of the M74. The agency said the image also shows a clear view of the nuclear star cluster in the center, thanks to a lack of gas in the area.
ESA highlighted the images each telescope captured on their own, as well as the power of their combination. Dust in the image is colored red, young stars can be seen blue, and older stars are yellow, marked by a “frightening green glow” as the colors combine.
Webb captured the galaxy using his mid-infrared instrument in his quest to study the early stages of star formation. It’s part of a larger collaborative effort to document 19 nearby star-forming galaxies that have already been studied using Hubble and observatories on Earth.
“Adding crystal-clear Webb observations at longer wavelengths will allow astronomers to locate star-forming regions in galaxies, accurately measure the masses and ages of star clusters, and better understand the nature of small specks of dust drifting through interstellar space,” the agency said.
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