A New View of a Distant Spiral

Day 16 of the 2024 Space Telescope Advent Calendar: a new view of a distant spiral. This image from the James Webb Space Telescope shows spiral galaxy NGC 628 in a new light. The galaxy, also known as Messier 74, lies about 32 million light-years away, and was first discovered in 1780. This galaxy was observed earlier this year as part of the Physics at High Angular resolution in Nearby GalaxieS (PHANGS) program, a large project that includes observations from several space- and ground-based telescopes of many galaxies to help researchers study all phases of the star-formation cycle. Webb’s new images combining near- and mid-infrared light observations have revealed previously unseen intricate details in the filaments, arms, and centers of many galaxies.

See the full advent calendar here, where a new image will be revealed each day until December 25.