James Webb took the best photos of his career

the James Webb Space Telescope Never stop being amazed by her stunning images of the universe. Aside from these scientific contributions actually revolutionizing astronomy, these images also tend to be fascinating on a purely aesthetic level, putting the stars in the eyes of space lovers in both a literal and figurative sense. We remember, for example, his pictures of the chariot wheel, or the pillars of creation, or the Crab Nebula, each more beautiful than the last.

But this time, the telescope has outdone itself. NASA revealed this Monday A collection of 19 breathtaking images Who can be a part of The most beautiful satellite images in history.

Fantastic cousins of the Milky Way

What makes these images so poignant is first and foremost the type of thing Webb photographed. Every time it's a question Spiral galaxies, like the good old Milky Way. Architecture often brings out patterns that are particularly pleasing to look at. This group is no exception.

We see this, for example, in these pictures NGC 4254, 628, and IC 5332They are three galaxies that appear as huge orange-colored swirls of gas and dust. The good old Hubble has already taken great pictures. But thanks to state-of-the-art infrared sensors capable of penetrating the thick veils of dust that obscure the finest details, the James Webb Space Telescope revealed them to us in a new light, with a level of resolution that was downright astonishing.

NGC 4254 Ghost — NGC 4254. © NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, PHANGS Team

I5332 Ghost — IC 5532. © NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, PHANGS Team

NGC 628 Ghost — NGC 628. © NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, PHANGS Team

Same note for NGC 1385 and 1087, but in a somewhat different style. They are less regular and organized, and more widespread. But it's still less impressive.

NGC 1087 Ghost — NGC 1087. © NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, PHANGS Team

NGC 1385 Jwst — NGC 1385. © NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, PHANGS Team

We can also mention NGC 3351, 1672, 1443 and 1300, four particularly attractive galaxies with disks of dust that shine brightly in the center of the images. These are called galaxies Vortex blocked. Their arms do not emerge from the center, but from a long strip of stars crossing it from side to side.

NGC 1300 GWST — NGC 1300. © NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, PHANGS Team

NGC 1672 Jwst — NGC 1672. © NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, PHANGS Team

But the award for the most beautiful photo undoubtedly goes to NGC 1512, with its almost perfect symmetry. Its well-defined central ring will make it look like an enormous eye watching Earth 38 million light-years away.

NGC 1512 JWST — NGC 1512. © NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, PHANGS Team

Astronomers are in a swoon

And it's not just fans who remain happy in front of these enormous colorful spirals. Even as researchers begin to get used to the extraordinary performance of this $10 billion jewel of engineering launched by an Ariane 5 rocket in December 2021, they are still wondering: I'm still amazed at the level of detail he was able to provide.

“ Unusual web images », explains Janice Lee, one of the directors of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. “ It's breathtaking even for researchers who have studied these galaxies for decades. These bubbles and these threads are represented with an unparalleled level of detail », she whispers. “ Our team is in a constant state of amazement at the amount of detail in these images », adds Thomas Williams, an astronomer at the University of Oxford.

Extraordinary data that you no longer know what to do with

But to these experienced astronomers, these images are not just fantastic representations of the universe; This is above all Great science resources. For example, Webb's ability to plumb the depths of these clusters, which are almost opaque to most of his peers, allows researchersObserve things that were previously completely invisible.

We can mention in particular the massive young stars in the centers of galaxies, or the vast holes left by stars at the end of their lives that were blown away in a massive explosion. Lots of items you can provide Crucial information about the life cycle of galaxies. For the scientific community, all that remains is to delve into these mountains of precious data in the hope of finding something that reinforces the cosmological models that describe the dynamics of the universe.