ESAWebb Images

Beta Pictoris system (NIRSpec IFU image and spectrum)

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 14:00:00 +0200

Researchers used the NIRSpec (Near-Infrared Spectrograph) Integral Field Unit on the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope to map chemical contents of the Beta Pictoris system. As a result, they discovered a third planet, Beta Pictoris d, orbiting the young star.

Instead of identifying the planet as a bright point of light, as seen in the reconstructed image, researchers searched the spectroscopic data for the molecular signatures expected from a giant planet atmosphere, allowing the object to stand out from the surrounding debris disc.

The extracted NIRSpec and MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) spectra of Beta Pictoris d display a distinctive series of carbon monoxide (CO) absorption lines. This molecular “fingerprint” identified the object as a giant planet, while measurements of the Doppler shift of the spectral lines provided the planet’s radial velocity, confirming it is gravitationally bound to the Beta Pictoris system.

[Image description: The image at the left shows two exoplanets of the Beta Pictoris system. At the centre, there is a white star symbol, which represents light blocked from the host star. Immediately to the left of the star symbol, there is a bright orange-whitesh smudge, labeled b. To the right of the star symbol is a blurry orange smudge labeled d. There is a white circle around this smudge with lines drawn to the spectrum at the right. The x-axis is labeled “Wavelength of Light” and extends from 4.2 to 5.2 microns. The y-axis is labeled “Brightness.” An up arrow is labeled “brighter,” a down arrow “dimmer.” There are two jagged horizontal lines across the graph. One is white, the other is maroon (the former labeled “Webb data”, the latter labeled “Best fit model” in the bottom left corner). A blue vertical column spanning from about 4.3 microns to 5 microns is labeled Carbon Monoxide, CO.]

Centaurus A (annotated NIRCam + MIRI image)

Mon, 06 Jul 2026 16:00:00 +0200

Annotated image of the active galaxy Centaurus A captured by the James Webb Space Telescope’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), with compass arrows, a scale bar, and colour key for reference.

The north and east compass arrows show the orientation of the image on the sky. Note that the relationship between north and east on the sky (as seen from below) is flipped relative to direction arrows on a map of the ground (as seen from above).

The scale bar is labeled in light-years.

This image shows invisible near- and mid-infrared wavelengths of light that have been translated into visible-light colours. The colour key shows which NIRCam and MIRI filters were used when collecting the light. The colour of each filter name is the visible light colour used to represent the infrared light that passes through that filter.

[Image description: Annotated image of galaxy Centaurus A captured by Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) and MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument), with compass arrows, a scale bar, and colour key for reference. A diagonal image of the galaxy stretches from the upper left to the lower right against a deep black background filled with tiny orange, blue, and white points of light. A band of golden-orange dust cuts across the middle of the galaxy, forming a distinctive parallelogram shape. Just above the centre, peach-coloured ribbons trace an S-shaped structure. The galaxy’s outer edges are reddish-orange. Below the image is a colour key showing which of Webb’s filters were used to create the image and the visible-light colour assigned. NIRCam filters, from left to right: F090W is blue, F187N is blue, F200W is cyan, F277W is yellow, F335M is orange, F444W is red. MIRI filters, from left to right: F560 is yellow, F770W is orange, F1000W is red.]

Centaurus A (NIRCam image)

Mon, 06 Jul 2026 16:00:00 +0200

This view of Centaurus A from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope if from the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) Webb’s infrared vision exposes a warped disk of gas and dust left behind by a collision with another galaxy billions of years ago.

Centaurus A (MIRI image)

Mon, 06 Jul 2026 16:00:00 +0200

The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) reveals the nearby galaxy Centaurus A, exposing the dusty structures and hidden activity that shape this unusual system. Webb’s infrared vision pierces thick lanes of dust that obscure much of the galaxy in visible light, unveiling intricate filaments, loops, and glowing clouds of warm dust stretching across its centre. At the heart of the galaxy, an actively feeding supermassive black hole shines brightly, surrounded by complex structures sculpted by a past galactic collision and ongoing activity.

[Image description: A horizontal image of the galaxy Centaurus A stretches across a black background filled with thousands of tiny purple, pink, and white points of light. The galaxy is brightest at its centre, where a brilliant white and pale pink glow radiates outward. Eight diffraction spikes extend from the central glow. Delicate loops and wispy ribbons of pink and lavender arc above and below the centre of the image in the shape of an ‘S’. A band of gray and white dust in the shape of a parallelogram cuts across the middle of the galaxy. Mottled patches and bright knots are scattered throughout the dusty band. The galaxy’s outer edges fade into soft, cloud-like plumes with feathery textures that stretch toward the left and right sides of the image. Against the surrounding darkness, a few bright foreground stars shine with Webb’s distinctive diffraction spikes, while countless fainter stars create a speckled backdrop.]

Centaurus A: ground-based context

Mon, 06 Jul 2026 16:00:00 +0200

This ground-based image of nearby galaxy Centaurus A from the European Southern Observatory (top left) puts the near-infrared and mid-infrared views from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope image into context.

[Image description: A three-panel comparison shows different views of galaxy Centaurus A. The upper left panel is a visible-light image of the full galaxy surrounded by a black sky filled with white, blue, and yellow stars. Centaurus A has a dark dust lane crossing a bright centre. A white outlined box marks the region observed by Webb. The upper right panel zooms into that outlined region with a combined near- and mid-infrared view from Webb. The galaxy is oriented diagonally, with a bright white core surrounded by an orange glow. A broad band of golden-orange dust forms a parallelogram across the centre, countless tiny stars create a fine speckled texture throughout the image. A dashed outline indicates the smaller region shown below, Webb’s mid-infrared view. The galaxy stretches horizontally across a black background scattered with purple and white stars, the parallelogram glows white. Wispy clouds and looping pink structures surround the centre. The galaxy’s edges fade into soft, feathery plumes.]

Centaurus A (annotated MIRI image)

Mon, 06 Jul 2026 16:00:00 +0200

Annotated image of the active galaxy Centaurus A captured by the James Webb Space Telescope’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument), with compass arrows, a scale bar, and colour key for reference.

The scale bar is labeled in light-years.

This image shows invisible mid-infrared wavelengths of light that have been translated into visible-light colours. The colour key shows which MIRI filters were used when collecting the light. The colour of each filter name is the visible light colour used to represent the infrared light that passes through that filter.

[Image description: Annotated image of galaxy Centaurus A captured by Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument), with compass arrows, a scale bar, and colour key for reference. A horizontal image of the galaxy stretches across a black background filled with thousands of tiny purple, pink, and white points of light. The galaxy is brightest at its centre. Delicate loops and ribbons of pink and lavender arc above and below the centre of the image in the shape of an ‘S’. A band of gray and white dust in the shape of a parallelogram cuts across the middle of the galaxy. The galaxy’s outer edges fade into soft plumes with feathery textures that stretch toward the left and right sides of the image. Below the image is a colour key showing which of Webb’s MIRI filters were used to create the image and which visible-light colour is assigned to each filter. From left to right: F560W is blue; F770W is green; and F1000W is red.]

Centaurus A (MIRI + NIRCam image wide-field view)

Mon, 06 Jul 2026 16:00:00 +0200

This combined view of Centaurus A from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope pairs observations from the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI). Webb’s infrared vision exposes a warped disk of gas and dust left behind by a collision with another galaxy billions of years ago.

What may first appear as a grainy glow is actually a dense field of millions of individually resolved stars. By distinguishing different generations of stars embedded throughout the dusty centre, Webb gives astronomers new clues to the galaxy’s history and the processes that continue to shape it.

[Image description: A diagonal image of the galaxy Centaurus A stretches from the upper left to the lower right against a deep black background filled with countless tiny orange, blue, and white points of light. The galaxy is brightest at its centre with a white glowing core. A broad band of golden-orange dust cuts across the middle of the galaxy, forming a distinctive parallelogram shape. The dust in this feature is richly textured, with mottled patches, bright knots, and intricate filaments throughout. Just above the centre, delicate peach-coloured ribbons trace an S-shaped structure. Rather than appearing smooth, the galaxy has a finely speckled texture created by millions of individually resolved stars, which fill the central regions and extend into the surrounding glow. The galaxy’s outer edges dissolve into diffuse, cloud-like plumes with feathery textures that stretch beyond the dust lane. Against the surrounding darkness, several bright foreground stars display Webb’s distinctive diffraction spikes.]

Centaurus A (MIRI + NIRCam image)

Mon, 06 Jul 2026 16:00:00 +0200

A cosmic construction project

Fri, 03 Jul 2026 10:00:00 +0200

In today’s Picture of the Month from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope we are taken on a visit to a building site of significant scale. The project is a galaxy cluster named MACS J0553.4-3342, located in the constellation Columba (the Dove).

MACS J0553.4-3342 is situated at a redshift of 0.412. Redshift is a measure of how much the cluster’s light has been stretched by the expansion of the Universe over the course of its long journey to Webb’s mirrors; this unassuming number tells us that we are seeing MACS J0553.4-3342 as it was 4.4 billion years in the past. But for a galaxy cluster, this is relatively young. In fact, observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and other telescopes show a cluster still in the process of being built.

MACS J0553.4-3342 is composed of two sub-clusters — roughly equal in mass — that are actively merging. The two subclusters have already slammed through each other and travelled over one million light-years apart, but they will eventually come back together again and again until they finally merge. The construction process is messy, and MACS J0553.4-3342 is filled with extremely hot gas that radiates powerful X-rays. Each subcluster is anchored on an immensely bright and massive elliptical galaxy, which are easily identifiable as the two brightest points in the centre of this scene with the largest glowing halos around them. The many smaller white elliptical galaxies are bound to one of the two subclusters by gravity, and will be incorporated into the final galaxy cluster. This image also features many foreground galaxies — spirals and dusty discs that are unrelated to MACS J0553.4-3342 — and prominent bright stars in our own Milky Way galaxy.

Even mid-way through its construction, the titanic clumps of matter swirling around in this galaxy cluster have built a device that is already very useful for us here on Earth: a gravitational lens. The extreme and concentrated mass in MACS J0553.4-3342 curves light with its gravity, similar to how a glass lens bends and focuses light. In this image you can see prominent orange, stretched-out arcs alongside each of the subclusters. These arcs are images of distant background galaxies, whose light has been warped by the galaxy cluster’s gravitational pull. The arc on the left side, three bright spots joined together, is actually three images of a single background galaxy! A forest of smaller arcs and lines are scattered across the image too; such a fantastic view appears in few other places in the Universe.

Look in the right spot, however, and this galaxy cluster turns from a distorting funhouse mirror into a precision scientific device. The gravitational lensing focuses light, magnifying objects and enhancing their brightness so if they lie in exactly the right place, background galaxies and even individual stars that would have been far too faint and distant to spot will be made visible. By carefully mapping out the mass of the cluster, researchers can reconstruct where and how strongly it distorts light from our point of view, then search for serendipitously-magnified distant objects to study. The arcs we can see in MACS J0553.4-3342 already show a few galaxies from less than a billion years after the Big Bang.

This image, taken with Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), stems from a survey programme named VENUS (#6882). Astronomers aimed to create a collection of deep, high-quality images of massive galaxy clusters like MACS J0553.4-3342 across a wide range of infrared wavelengths, greatly expanding the area covered by Webb’s sensitive instruments. Researchers can then scour the clusters for distant and faint objects that have been brightened through gravitational lensing, from young galaxies and low-mass black holes to supernova explosions and individual stars. Gravitational lensing has been key to many of Webb’s most dramatic discoveries in recent years, and having many more examples of it allows us to systematically study the distant past and the evolutionary stages of the galaxies, stars and black holes we see today.

[Image Description: A galaxy cluster in deep space. It is filled with elliptical galaxies: small, bright white glowing ovals. The two largest elliptical galaxies, left and right of center, are bright cores that radiate light. Unrelated, distant galaxies are scattered around as red smudges and dots.Many of these are stretched out into red arcs and lines by the galaxy cluster’s strong gravity, creating multiple images in places. Numerous spiral galaxies and bright stars appear in the foreground.]

FS Tau (Webb NIRCam image)

Thu, 02 Jul 2026 16:00:00 +0200

The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope captures the infrared light from bright protostars in the young star system FS Tau.

In addition to myriad background galaxies that burst into view, this image flickers with a number of protostars, or baby stars that are formed from dense pockets of gas and dust. These hot, clumpy, and low-mass objects eventually will become full-fledged stars capable of burning hydrogen in their cores, like our Sun. The protostars of FS Tau are about 1 to 3 million years old, which is relatively young in cosmic scales. Our Sun, by contrast, is 4.6 billion years old.

FS Tau A, a pair of protostars that creates the largest diffraction pattern slightly to the left of centre, is about half the mass of our Sun. FS Tau B, the orange protostar slightly right of centre, is thought to be responsible for the red (molecular hydrogen) and orange (soot-like molecules known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) outflows that we see amid the dusty region. The blue ridges are areas where light has been scattered by dust.

The different colours of the background galaxies indicate how much dust is in front of them, as dust both absorbs and scatters light. Redder galaxies lie behind larger amounts of dust, yellower galaxies lie behind thinner layers of dust, and whiter galaxies are mostly unobstructed.

You can learn more about this image here.

[Image description: FS Tau, a star-forming nebula. Clouds of transparent blue and purple gas and dust extend from slightly left of centre to the right side of the frame, from 2 o’clock to 5 o’clock. Several yellow and white protostars, some showing Webb’s eight-pronged diffraction pattern are dispersed throughout the clouds. Orange wisps and filaments of gas extend from one of the protostars at the centre toward the top left and bottom right corners of the frame. There are numerous, distant yellow and white galaxies strewn about the black background of space.]

Exoplanet WD 1856 b (artist’s concept)

Wed, 01 Jul 2026 17:00:00 +0200

Exoplanet WD 1856 b, shown in this artist’s concept, is a gas giant that survived the death of its star. It now orbits a white dwarf at a distance 50 times closer than Earth orbits the Sun. Observations by the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope not only determined the planet’s temperature but also detected molecules in its atmosphere. The former measurement provides evidence that WD 1856 b migrated to its current location billions of years after its star became a white dwarf.

[Image description: An orange gas giant planet at left, taking up about one-third of the frame, facing a star, which appears at top right as a far smaller bright dot. The planet has subtle orange cloud bands. The star illuminates the right side of the planet like the crescent of a waxing moon. Both are on the black background of space. The words “artist’s concept” are in the bottom right corner.]

Exoplanet WD 1856 b NIRSpec transmission spectrum

Wed, 01 Jul 2026 17:00:00 +0200

The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope measured the constituents of exoplanet WD 1856 b as it passed in front of its star, finding signs of methane. WD 1856 b orbits a white dwarf star the size of Earth. As a result, the planet blocks more than half of the star’s light. The red bands indicate where bumps in the spectrum show that this planet’s atmosphere contains methane.

[Image description: This image shows a graph of the amount of light blocked by percent on the y-axis and wavelength of light in microns on the x-axis. The y-axis ranges from 55.2% to 56.5% with tick marks every 0.1% and labels at 55.5 and 56.0. The x-axis ranges from 0.5 to 4.0 microns with tick marks every 0.5 microns. A thick purple line outlined with two semi-translucent bands has an inner line that’s darker and an outer line that’s lighter. The purple line is wavy and runs higher, in the top third, until about 3.5 microns, where it drops to 55.2 on the y-axis and 4.0 on the x-axis. Five humps are highlighted by vertical red bars, indicating the presence of methane. White circles representing data points are scattered above and below the purple line. A key shows that the purple line is the best fit model, red highlights methane, and white circles represent data..]

The Cigar Galaxy: M82 (Webb NIRCam image)

Tue, 23 Jun 2026 16:00:00 +0200

The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope recently observed edge-on starburst galaxy Messier 82 (M82), nicknamed the Cigar Galaxy. Webb’s near-infrared-light view is a snapshot in time, revealing a scene that has been evolving over a couple hundred million years. In near-infrared light, astronomers can see the galaxy’s distended disc structure and millions of individual stars (approximately 16.5 million) for the first time.

Webb’s imaging survey of the galaxy is helping astronomers investigate the formation history of M82 and will also shed light on the current processes occurring within the starburst galaxy.

[Image description: Edge-on spiral starburst galaxy Messier 82 as imaged by Webb. Hourglass-shaped red-orange plumes of material are shooting outward from above and below a bright blue-white, disc-shaped centre. Messier 82 is set against the black background of space, which has many distant galaxies that appear as small white and orange spirals, ovals, and points of light. Toward the right of Messier 82 is a blue-white star with eight-pointed diffraction spikes that are characteristic of Webb.]

The Cigar Galaxy: M82 (Hubble and Webb)

Tue, 23 Jun 2026 16:00:00 +0200

Edge-on spiral galaxy Messier 82 (M82) has been an object of study by many observatories over the years, including the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and most recently the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope.

This side-by-side comparison shows the same region of M82 as seen by Hubble (left) and Webb (right). Hubble’s visible-light view is limited because of the amount of dust within M82, which shrouds the galaxy’s details. Bright, bluish light radiating from the centre is due to star formation. A notable thick lane of dust, black in the centre and red around the edges, diagonally stretches across the scene. Thinner strands and clumps of reddish dust cover the majority of the view.

With its ability to observe the near-infrared Universe, Webb can pierce through the dusty environment of M82 and reveal what was once hidden to astronomers. With Webb, millions of individual stars within M82’s heart (seen here as luminous blue-white granules) are resolved in unprecedented clarity. Red-orange clumps, most noticeable toward the right, are small dust grains.

[Image description: A side-by-side comparison of a portion of starburst galaxy Messier 82 (M82) as seen by Hubble (left) and Webb (right). The left image is labeled “Hubble” and the right image is labeled “Webb.” Hubble’s visible-light view at left shows bright, bluish light radiating from the centre and a thick lane of dust, black in the centre and red around the edges, diagonally stretching across the scene. Thinner strands and clumps of reddish dust cover the majority of the view. Webb’s infrared-light view at right shows a dense area of stars, depicted as luminous blue-white grains, against the black background of space. Toward the right side is clumpy red material, which is most visible toward the top right corner.]

The Cigar Galaxy: M82 (Webb and Hubble image)

Tue, 23 Jun 2026 16:00:00 +0200

The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope’s recently observed edge-on starburst galaxy Messier 82 (M82), nicknamed the Cigar Galaxy. Webb’s near-infrared-light view is a snapshot in time, revealing a scene that has been evolving over a couple hundred million years. In near-infrared light, astronomers can see the galaxy’s distended disc structure and millions of individual stars — approximately 16.5 million — for the first time.

Depicted as luminous blue granules, these stars are only a small portion of the total amount astronomers think reside in a galaxy like M82. The extreme star formation occurring within M82, which will eventually cause star formation to cease in the future, is causing bipolar plumes of material to be ejected above and below the galaxy’s disc.

Yellow tendrils of material closest to the galaxy’s disc represent ionised gas, and the orange material farther away depicts small dust grains. These grains are called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and are helpful in tracing material in the space between the galaxy’s stars — also known as the interstellar medium.

Webb’s detailed observation of the galaxy, specifically of the main plane of the disc, is aiding astronomers as they seek to uncover the formation history of M82. The telescope data will also help scientists understand the current processes occurring within the starburst galaxy.

[Image description: Composite image of edge-on spiral starburst galaxy Messier 82 as observed by Webb and Hubble. Hourglass-shaped plumes of gas are shooting outward from above and below a bright blue-white, disc-shaped centre. The plumes are yellow near the galaxy’s bright centre, denoting areas of ionised hydrogen gas as observed by Hubble, and gradually become redder as you move farther away. Messier 82 is set against the black background of space, which has many distant galaxies that appear as small white and orange spirals, ovals, and points of light. Toward the right of Messier 82 is a blue-white star with eight-pointed diffraction spikes that are characteristic of Webb.]

The Cigar Galaxy: M82 (Webb and Hubble image, annotated)

Tue, 23 Jun 2026 16:00:00 +0200

Annotated image of the starburst galaxy Messier 82 captured by the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) and the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope’s ACS/WFC instruments, with compass arrows, a scale bar, and colour key for reference.

The scale bar is labeled in light-years.

This image shows invisible near-infrared and visible-light wavelengths of light that have been translated into visible-light colours. The colour key shows which NIRCam and ACS/WFC filters were used when collecting the light. The colour of each filter name is the visible light colour used to represent the infrared light that passes through that filter.

[Image description: Annotated image of starburst galaxy Messier 82 captured by Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) instrument, with compass arrows, a scale bar, and colour key for reference. Hourglass-shaped red-orange plumes of material are shooting outward from above and below a bright blue-white, disc-shaped centre. Messier 82 is set against the black background of space, which has many distant galaxies that appear as small white and orange spirals, ovals, and points of light. Toward the right of Messier 82 is a blue-white star with eight-pointed diffraction spikes that are characteristic of Webb. Below the image is a colour key showing which of Webb’s NIRCam and Hubble’s ACS/WFC filters were used to create the image and which visible-light colour is assigned to each filter. From left to right, NIRCam filters are: F115W is blue; F200W is light blue; F335M is orange, and F444W is red. ACS/WFC filter F658N is yellow.]

M82 (Webb NIRCam image)

Tue, 23 Jun 2026 16:00:00 +0200

Webb’s imaging survey of the galaxy is helping astronomers investigate the formation history of M82 and will also shed light on the current processes occurring within the starburst galaxy.

You can learn more about this image here.

Messier 82 (Hubble 2006 image)

Tue, 23 Jun 2026 16:00:00 +0200

This mosaic image of the magnificent starburst galaxy, Messier 82 (M82) was shared in April 2006 for the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope's 16th anniversary. It showcases the galaxy's webs of shredded clouds and flame-like plumes of glowing hydrogen blasting out from its central regions. You can learn more about this image here.

Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS (NIRSpec IFU)

Mon, 22 Jun 2026 17:00:00 +0200

Webb’s NIRSpec (Near-Infrared Spectrograph) instrument can map specific chemical and molecular signatures, as seen here in its three images of comet 3I/ATLAS, each highlighting a part of the comet’s contents.

Researchers use NIRSpec’s Integral Field Unit, which provides a spectrum of every image pixel, to dive deeper into the details of cosmic objects than they can with the telescope’s imaging instruments alone. This is crucial for a rare object like 3I/ATLAS, which is only the third comet from outside the Solar System ever studied, and the first to be observed by an instrument capable of capturing as much detail as NIRSpec. With NIRSpec’s data, researchers can build a picture of where the comet may have come from and what its home system was like and then compare that to familiar conditions in the Solar System.

[Image description: Comparison of three telescope images side by side. They are roughly spherical but pixelated, with more intense colour saturation in the centre. From left to right: smallest sphere is blue and labeled H2O, orange is larger and labeled CO2, and red is largest and labeled CO. A scale bar at the lower left is labeled 1300 km/1 arcsecond and is about one fourth of each of the three images. A compass at the lower right shows north pointing up to 12 o’clock, east pointing left to 9 o’clock, and a fainter arrow labeled to Sun pointing down to 8 o’clock.]

3I/ATLAS compared to Solar System comets

Mon, 22 Jun 2026 17:00:00 +0200

Measurements of specific element varieties by Webb’s NIRSpec (Near-Infrared Spectrograph) instrument show how different the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is from comets originating in our own Solar System. Researchers used NIRSpec to measure carbon-13, which contains an extra neutron, relative to the more common carbon-12. They also measured the abundance of heavy hydrogen, which is a hydrogen atom with an added neutron.

Webb’s NIRSpec found a surprisingly large amount of heavy hydrogen, with a low abundance of carbon-13, indicating that 3I/ATLAS came from a place very different from our own Solar System. Researchers say early analysis of these results indicates that 3I/ATLAS was ejected from its origin system billions of years ago.

[Image description: Infographic showing the differences in measured ratios of heavy carbon and heavy hydrogen between Solar System comets and interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS. The top portion of the infographic has headline Heavy Carbon, plus a horizontal scale in increments of 50 ranging from zero to 250 measuring the ratio of Carbon-12 to Carbon-13. Three Solar System comets appear just below 100 on the scale, while 3I/ATLAS appears above 150 for carbon monoxide and about 170 for carbon dioxide. The bottom portion of the infographic has the headline Heavy Hydrogen, and a horizontal scale ranging from 10 to the negative fifth power on the left to approximately 10 to the negative first power on the right, though 10 to the first is not labeled. This scale is labeled Ratio of Heavy Hydrogen Measured in Water. Eleven Solar System comets appear on the graph, all falling to the right of 10 to the negative fourth power. Comet 3I/ATLAS appears at 10 to the negative second power.]

Bulge fossil fragment Terzan 5 (Webb and Hubble image annotated)

Tue, 16 Jun 2026 19:15:00 +0200

This image of bulge fossil fragment Terzan 5 was captured by the James Webb and Hubble space telescopes. Webb’s data are from its NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) and Hubble’s from its Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS).

The image shows a scale bar, compass arrows, and colour key for reference.

The scale bar is labeled in light-years along the bottom, which is the distance that light travels in one Earth-year. (It takes two years for light to travel a distance equal to the length of the scale bar.) One light-year is equal to about 5.88 trillion miles or 9.46 trillion kilometers.

This image shows visible and near-infrared wavelengths of light that have been translated into visible-light colours. The colour key shows which NIRCam and ACS filters were used when collecting the light. The colour of each filter name is the visible-light colour used to represent the infrared light that passes through that filter.

This image was created with Hubble data from proposal: 12933 (F. R. Ferraro) and Webb data from proposal: 5502 (F. R. Ferraro).

[Image description: A dramatically crowded starfield that looks like a just-shaken snow globe. The black background of space is covered by thousands of tiny white, orange, and blue points of light, which are stars. The stars are most concentrated in the centre, forming a roughly circular orb. At the bottom left are compass arrows indicating the orientation of the image on the sky. The east arrow points toward 12 o’clock. The north arrow points toward 3 o’clock. At the bottom right is a scale bar labeled 2 light-years. The length of the scale bar is about one seventh of the total image. Below the image is a colour key showing which Hubble ACS/WFC and Webb NIRCam filters were used to create the image, and which visible-light colour is assigned to each filter. Hubble ACS filters, from left to right: F606W is blue and F814W is teal. Webb NIRCam filters: F115W is orange, F200W is red.]

Bulge fossil fragment Terzan 5 (Webb and Hubble image)

Tue, 16 Jun 2026 19:15:00 +0200

Terzan 5 is a stellar system orbiting within the Milky Way galaxy’s bulge, which is an incredibly bright, crowded central region of the galaxy. Not only are stars within the bulge tightly packed together — every bit of this region is laced with thick clouds of gas and dust.

The James Webb and Hubble Space Telescopes joined forces to study Terzan 5. Astronomers already knew that this star cluster was unusual in that it contained two stellar populations of very different ages. New research found strong evidence for two more stellar populations, one that formed 3.8 billion years ago and another only 2.5 billion years ago. The research team also was able to determine the ages of the previously known stellar populations with unprecedented precision, finding that they formed 12.5 billion and 4.7 billion years ago.

This finding proved that Terzan 5 is not a globular star cluster, as originally classified. Instead, Terzan 5 belongs to a new category, known as a bulge fossil fragment — a self-contained, self-enriching stellar system with multiple star populations of different ages and with different iron abundances.

Terzan 5 is 22,000 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. It contains about 2 million times the Sun's mass packed into a stellar system only a few tens of light-years across, making it one of the most massive and densely populated globular-cluster-like systems in the Milky Way.

This image was created with Hubble data from proposal: 12933 (F. R. Ferraro) and Webb data from proposal: 5502 (F. R. Ferraro).

[Image description: A dramatically crowded starfield that looks like a just-shaken snow globe. The black background of space, which is clearer at the edges, is covered by thousands of tiny white, orange, and blue points of light, which are stars. The stars are most concentrated in the centre, forming a roughly circular orb, and sparser at the edges of the image. Several larger orange stars, particularly those largest near the edges of the frame, have prominent diffraction spikes.]

GLIMPSE-17775 in Abell S1063 (NIRCam image annotated)

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 16:00:00 +0200

The little red dot that would come to be known as GLIMPSE-17775 was fortunately included in the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope’s field of view as it was observing galaxy cluster Abell S1063 for a different scientific purpose. GLIMPSE-17775 is located behind the galaxy cluster and has a cosmological redshift of 3.5, meaning it existed about 1.8 billion years after the Big Bang.

Since galaxy clusters like Abell S1063 are some of the most massive objects in the Universe, light emitted by objects farther away can become distorted as it reaches the telescope. This effect is known as gravitational lensing. The combination of Webb’s 30 hours of observing time and gravitational lensing enabled scientists to obtain the deepest spectrum to date of a little red dot. The result: the strongest evidence to date of a hot, dense gas cocoon known as a “black hole star.”

[Image description: A field of galaxies against the black background of space. In the centre is a bright-white elliptical galaxy that is the core of the Abell S1063 galaxy cluster. Around the core are short, curved red lines, which are distant background galaxies magnified and warped by gravitational lensing. A couple of foreground stars appear large and bright with Webb’s signature eight-point diffraction spike pattern. Toward the very bottom, slightly off center toward the right, is a small red dot that is highlighted by an orange square outline. A larger orange square in the top right corner shows the object in more detail. The object, labeled “GLIMPSE-17775” looks like a fuzzy red dot with a yellow core.]

GLIMPSE-17775 spectrum

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 16:00:00 +0200

The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope’s spectroscopic data on little red dot GLIMPSE-17775 contains more than 40 spectral lines. The spectrum contains multiple independent indicators that support the theory that this little red dot is a black hole star: a rapidly accreting, or growing, black hole enveloped in a hot, dense gas cocoon. This layered, shell-like environment is reprocessing the light emitted from near the black hole and producing the features seen in the spectrum.

For example, scientists found that many of the spectral lines, such as hydrogen, oxygen, and helium, do not match a simple, rotating gas cloud model. The best fit model includes a broadening effect known as electron scattering, a telltale sign that a dense, layered gas cocoon is enshrouding the source.

[Image description: A spectrum graphic showing the amount of light blocked on the y-axis versus wavelength of light, in microns. The bottom of the y-axis is labeled “fainter,” and the top is labeled “brighter.” The x-axis starts with 2.80 microns at left and continues in increments of five, ending with 3.05 microns at right. A key at top left has a white line labeled “Data” and a small blue square labeled “Model of light scattered through hot dense gas.” The white data line is stepped with a large bell-like curve that peaks at 2.95 microns. It is labeled “hydrogen” and highlighted by a semi-transparent purple. The data also forms small peaks highlighted with different colors: around 2.84 microns, oxygen, green; 3.0 microns, helium, red; and 3.02 microns, sulfur, orange. The blue filling, representing the model, approximately fills the bell-like curve that marks hydrogen. A smaller peak of blue also approximately fills the data’s peak of helium.]

Abell S1063 galaxy cluster

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 16:00:00 +0200

The little red dot that would come to be known as GLIMPSE-17775 was fortunately included in the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope’s field of view as it was observing this galaxy cluster Abell S1063 for a different scientific purpose.

ESAWebb Images

Beta Pictoris system (NIRSpec IFU image and spectrum)

Centaurus A (annotated NIRCam + MIRI image)

Centaurus A (NIRCam image)

Centaurus A (MIRI image)

Centaurus A: ground-based context

Centaurus A (annotated MIRI image)

Centaurus A (MIRI + NIRCam image wide-field view)

Centaurus A (MIRI + NIRCam image)

A cosmic construction project

Links

FS Tau (Webb NIRCam image)

Exoplanet WD 1856 b (artist’s concept)

Exoplanet WD 1856 b NIRSpec transmission spectrum

The Cigar Galaxy: M82 (Webb NIRCam image)

The Cigar Galaxy: M82 (Hubble and Webb)

The Cigar Galaxy: M82 (Webb and Hubble image)

The Cigar Galaxy: M82 (Webb and Hubble image, annotated)

M82 (Webb NIRCam image)

Messier 82 (Hubble 2006 image)

Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS (NIRSpec IFU)

3I/ATLAS compared to Solar System comets

Bulge fossil fragment Terzan 5 (Webb and Hubble image annotated)

Bulge fossil fragment Terzan 5 (Webb and Hubble image)

GLIMPSE-17775 in Abell S1063 (NIRCam image annotated)

GLIMPSE-17775 spectrum

Abell S1063 galaxy cluster