James Webb’s image shows the shining heart of the galaxy

Astronomers recently shared stunning new space images from the James Webb Space Telescope, showing a galaxy with an unusually bright core.

New images of a galaxy called NGC 7469, located 220 million light-years away in the constellation Pegasus. It is a spiral galaxy, like our Milky Way, and is positioned so that it appears directly in front of us. In addition to this main galaxy, you can also see a more distant background galaxy, as well as the companion galaxy NGC 5283 which you can see at the bottom left of the image.

Perhaps the most prominent feature in the image is the bright red star shape radiating from the galaxy’s center, called the active galactic nucleus or AGN. This very bright region is where dust swirls around the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy, eventually collapsing and releasing heat and light over time.

“The striking feature of this image is the striking six-pointed star that lines up perfectly with the heart of NGC 7469,” scientist Webb To explain. Unlike galaxies, these are not actual celestial bodies, but imaging artifacts known as diffraction spikes, caused by bright, unresolved AGN. The diffraction peak is the pattern produced when light bends around the sharp edge of a telescope. Webb’s primary mirror consists of six-sided hexagons each edged to emit light, giving it six bright points. There are also shorter, lighter spikes created by diffraction from the vertical supports that help support Webb’s secondary mirror.”

This region was studied using three Webb instruments, a mid-infrared instrument (MIRI), a near-infrared camera (NIRCam) and a near-infrared spectrometer (NIRSpec). This AGN is special because it is located near a starburst region, where stars are forming at high speed. Research with Webb aims to investigate the relationship between these galactic nuclei and nearby starburst regions, and the role of dust between them.

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