A team of astronomers has used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to survey the starburst galaxy Messier 82
Located 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major, this galaxy is relatively compact in size but hosts a frenzy of star formation
Led by Alberto Bolatto at the University of Maryland, College Park, the team directed Webb’s NIRCam instrument toward the starburst galaxy’s center
Star formation continues to maintain a sense of mystery because it is shrouded by curtains of dust and gas
While dark brown tendrils of heavy dust are threaded throughout M82’s glowing white core even in this infrared view
Webb’s NIRCam has revealed a level of detail that has historically been obscured. Looking closer toward the center, small specks depicted in green denote concentrated areas of iron
most of which are supernova remnants. Small patches that appear red signify regions where molecular hydrogen is being lit up by a nearby young star’s radiation.
Looking at M82 in slightly longer infrared wavelengths, clumpy tendrils represented in red can be seen extending above and below the galaxy’s plane.
These gaseous streamers are a galactic wind rushing out from the core of the starburst.
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Webb’s NIRCam instrument was well-suited to trace the structure of the galactic wind via emission from sooty chemical molecules known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons